US death toll in Israel-Hamas war rises to 22 as Blinken heads to Israel
Beyond the 22 known to have been killed, the State Department said at least 17 more Americans remain unaccounted for in a war that has already claimed more than 2,200 lives on both sides
By Matthew Lee | The Associated Press ••
NBC Universal, Inc.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war against Hamas Saturday after the Palestinian militant group launched a surprise attack on Israel, which the IDF says left more than 1,200 dead and thousands injured.
“This attack was a campaign of pure cruelty — not just hate, but pure cruelty — against the Jewish people,” Biden told Jewish leaders gathered at the White House.
Beyond the 22 known to have been killed, the State Department said at least 17 more Americans remain unaccounted for in a war that has already claimed more than 2,200 lives on both sides. A “handful” of U.S. citizens are among the estimated 150 hostages captured by Hamas militants during their shocking weekend assault on Israel, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday.
Signs of U.S. support for Israel were seen across the administration, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveling there for meetings, Biden denouncing antisemitism in America and the U.S. military moving a second aircraft carrier toward the Mediterranean Sea as part of efforts to prevent the war from spilling over into a more dangerous regional conflict.
Kirby said the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and its ships would be an “available asset” if necessary. The USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier, and its strike group have already arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Biden at the roundtable with Jewish leaders suggested the deployment of U.S. military ships was a not-so-subtle message to Iran and other actors in the region. “We made it clear to the Iranians: Be careful.”
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined with a top political rival to create a war-time Cabinet, establishing a degree of unity as the government there faces public pressure to topple Hamas. Israel continued destructive airstrikes in Gaza, where a potential ground offensive would likely result in a large number of casualties on both sides of the conflict.
With many airlines suspending commercial flights in and out of Israel because of the ongoing rocket and missile exchanges, Kirby said the United States was exploring “a range of other options” to assist Americans who want to leave, appearing to leave open the possibility of a U.S.-assisted evacuation.
Kirby said the administration was still in talks with Israel and Egypt to try to arrange safe passage for Gaza’s civilians. “These people are victims, too,” he said. “They didn’t ask Hamas to do this.”
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday morning, Biden sought to connect the Hamas attacks directly to decades of antisemitism and violence endured by Jews around the world.
“This attack has brought to the surface the painful memories and scars left by a millennium of antisemitism and genocide against the Jewish people," Biden said. "We have to be crystal clear: There is no justification for terrorism, no excuse and the type of terrorism that was exhibited here is just beyond the pale, beyond the pale.”
Biden said he and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone on Wednesday with Netanyahu. It was at least the fourth call between Biden and Netanyahu since Saturday’s attack.
“The United States has Israel’s back and we’re going to be working on this through the day and beyond," Biden said.
Later in the day, while addressing Jewish leaders at the White House, Biden said he had tasked homeland security and law enforcement leaders “to work intensively with our Jewish community partners.”
“We’re also going to condemn and combat antisemitism at every single turn, every turn,” Biden said. “The past few days have been a solemn reminder that hate never goes away.” It can go underground, he said, but it doesn't go away.
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Palestinians stand next to a crater caused by an explosion from an Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis in the southern of Gaza Strip, on Oct. 16, 2023.
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A man reacts as he watches rescuers and civilians remove the rubble of a home destroyed following an Israeli attack on the town of Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on Oct. 15, 2023.
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Israeli troops prepare weapons and armed vehicles near the southern city of Ashkelon on Oct. 15, 2023.
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Members of the Bedouin community inspect vehicles destroyed in a rocket attack allegedly fired from the Gaza Strip in the village of Arara in the Negev Desert, on Oct. 14, 2023.
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A Palestinian man uses a fire extinguisher to douse a fire following an Israeli strike, in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Oct. 14, 2023.
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Palestinians with their belongings leave Gaza City as they flee from their homes following the Israeli army’s warning on Oct. 13, 2023.
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A Palestinian child watches as smoke billows on the horizon after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City on Oct. 13, 2023.
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Israeli army tanks and vehicles deploy along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on Oct. 13, 2023.
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A woman comforts injured Palestinian girls waiting at the hospital to be checked, as battles between Israel and the Hamas movement continue for the sixth consecutive day, in the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on Oct. 12, 2023.
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An Israeli soldier patrols near Kibbutz Beeri in southern Israel on Oct. 12, 2023, close to the place where 270 revellers were killed by militants during the Supernova music festival on Oct. 7.
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A Palestinian man with a child reacts outside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Oct. 12, 2023 as raging battles between Israel and the Hamas movement continue for the sixth consecutive day.
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This picture taken on Oct. 11, 2023 shows an aerial view of buildings destroyed by Israeli air strikes in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in Gaza City.
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Israeli troops search the scene of a Palestinian militant attack in the Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Aza on the border with the Gaza Strip on Oct. 11, 2023.
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People duck for cover upon hearing sirens warning of incoming fire in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on Oct. 11, 2023.
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Smoke billows after a strike by Israel on the port of Gaza City on Oct. 10, 2023.
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Palestinians inspect the destruction from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City’s al-Rimal neighbourhood early on October 10, 2023.
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A Palestinian man sits in front of a charred building as a fire rages through its interior, following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City’s al-Rimal district on Oct. 10, 2023.
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Israeli soldiers patrol an area in Kfar Aza, south of Israel bordering Gaza Strip, on Oct. 10, 2023.
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Lightning strikes as smoke billows following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Oct. 9, 2023.
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An aerial picture shows the site of the weekend attack on the Supernova desert music festival by Palestinian militants near Kibbutz Reim in the Negev desert in southern Israel on Oct. 10, 2023.
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An Israeli soldier rests his head on an artillery gun barrel of an armored vehicle as Israeli soldiers take positions near the border with Gaza in southern Israel on Oct. 9, 2023.
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A member of the Palestinian civil defense carries a wounded boy rescued from the rubble of the Tattari family home, destroyed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City on Oct. 9, 2023.
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Palestinians search for survivors after an Israeli airstrike on buildings in the refugee camp of Jabalia in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 9, 2023.
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Israeli army soldiers are positioned with their Merkava tanks near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on Oct. 9, 2023.
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A Palestinian points to the Ahmed Yassin mosque, which was levelled by Israeli airstrikes, in Gaza City early on Oct. 9, 2023.
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Palestinians evacuate the area following an Israeli airstrike on the Sousi mosque in Gaza City on Oct. 9, 2023.
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A Palestinian demonstrator throws rocks towards Israeli soldiers in the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Oct. 8, 2023.
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A missile explodes in Gaza City during an Israeli air strike on Oct. 8, 2023.
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A man walks past an Israeli police station in Sderot after it was damaged during battles to dislodge Hamas militants who were stationed inside, on Oct. 8, 2023.
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Rockets fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza City are intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome defense missile system in the early hours of Oct. 8, 2023.
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Israeli police officers evacuate a family from a site hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
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Rockets are fired toward Israel from Gaza, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
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Cars are on fire after they were hit by rockets from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, Israel, on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
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Palestinians wave their national flag and celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis southern Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
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Israeli firefighters extinguish fire after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a house in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
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Israeli firefighters extinguish fire after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a parking lot in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
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A young boy walks amid the rubble of a building destroyed by Israeli air strikes in Gaza City on Oct. 7, 2023.
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Israeli soldiers deploy in an area where civilians were killed in the southern city of Sderot on October 7, 2023.
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Palestinians walk away from the kibbutz of Kfar Azza, Israel, near the fence with the Gaza strip on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
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Cars burn after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a parking lot and a residential building in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
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Palestinian militants fire missiles at Israel in Gaza on October 7, 2023.
Ohad Zwigenberg/AP
Israeli soldiers head south near Ashkelon, Israel, Israel, on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
Ohad Zwigenberg/AP
Smoke rises from an area near a power plant outside Ashkelon, Israel, on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
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Police officers evacuate a woman and a child from a site hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
Ohad Zwigenberg/AP
A rocket from the Gaza Strip struck a street in Ashkelon, Israel, on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
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Israeli security forces take cover during rocket attack siren warning as rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
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Palestinians take down the fence on the Israel-Gaza border and enter Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Ohad Zwigenberg/AP
Residents look at damage after a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, Israel, on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
