President Biden called Hamas' attack on Israel "pure unadulterated evil," as he vowed, "We stand with Israel."
"We'll make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of itself," Biden said Tuesday from the White House.
What we know so far
Death toll and casualties
- Israeli officials report an attack by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 killed about 1,200 people. In addition, they say about 250 people were taken hostage, some have since been released.
- Gaza health officials have reported more than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes.
— NPR (Jan. 24)
Hamas militants attacked Israel on Saturday, killing more than 900 people, including at least 14 Americans. Israel has responded with a siege and heavy bombing of the Gaza Strip.
"Like every nation in the world, Israel has the right to respond — indeed has a duty to respond — to these vicious attacks," Biden said.
Biden has expressed full-throated support for Israel in the wake of what he and his officials have described as terrorist attacks. The president spent the long holiday weekend meeting with his national security team and working the phones with allies, including calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden and Vice President Harris spoke to Netanyahu ahead of the president's remarks.
On Tuesday, Biden said the U.S. would send military systems to replenish Iron Dome, the Israeli air-defense system.
"When Congress returns, I'm going to ask them to take urgent action to fund the national security requirements of our critical partners," he said.
The White House was also preparing for what spokesman John Kirby described as the grim possibility that Americans could be among the hostages now being held by Hamas. Biden confirmed Tuesday that Americans were among the hostages being held by Hamas. He did not provide a number.
"As president, I have no higher priority than the safety of Americans being held hostage around the world," he said.
Earlier, in a statement, he ordered his team to work with Israel on hostage recovery efforts.
Separately, U.S. officials tell NPR they are offering Israel air defense and munitions and are pressing to get munitions to the country as quickly as possible. Department of Defense officials offered no timetable on the USS Gerald Ford Strike Group — which includes an aircraft carrier, a guided missile cruiser and guided missile destroyers — making its way to the Mediterranean.
The president also delivered a warning to other actors in the region.
"To anyone thinking of taking advantage of this situation, I have one word," he said. "Don't."
Understanding how we got here
The history of this region is both complicated and fraught. Here is some context about what led up to the most recent attacks and counterattacks.
NPR's Aya Batrawy and Daniel Estrin called the initial attack "one of the most dramatic escalations in violence in recent memory" adding there are "concerns the chaos could spread to the occupied West Bank and different countries in the Middle East."
- This round of bloodshed began with a surprise attack by Palestinian fighters from Gaza into Israel during the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. On Oct. 7, militants infiltrated Israel's border using paragliders, motorbikes and boats and fired thousands of rockets toward the country from Gaza.
NPR's Fatima Al-Kassab reported on the history of the Gaza Strip. Some key excerpts:
- The Gaza Strip is a 25-mile-long by 6-mile-wide enclave, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the north and east and Egypt to the south.
- Gaza is one of two Palestinian territories. The other is the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
- The strip has been under a blockade by Israel and Egypt, restricting the movement of people and goods since Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007. Israel controls its airspace and shoreline, as well as what goods can cross Gaza's borders.
NPR's Fatma Tanis examined how we got here and what might come next in this longstanding conflict.
For anyone looking for guidance on how to talk to children about this war:
Here's the latest on a growing movement on college campuses nationwide, as students organize against Israel's war in Gaza.
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