In closing remarks of his historic snap visit to Israel, U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday reiterated Washington's commitment to the safety of the Jewish state and its people.
Read more:
Opening his remarks from Tel Aviv, the Democratic leader listed some of the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians, which he says were reminiscent of the Holocaust.
Speaking from Tel Aviv, the Democratic leader highlighted the atrocities committed against Israeli civilians by Hamas, comparing them to the horrors of the Holocaust.
“Rape, beheadings, bodies burned alive — Hamas committed atrocities that recall the worst ravages of ISIS,” he said, “unleashing pure, unadulterated evil on the world. There’s no rationalizing it.”
He vowed, however, that while the world then “watched then and did nothing… We will not stand by and do nothing again, not today, not tomorrow, not ever."
Biden assured families of missing and hostages that they are not alone. "For me as the American president, there is no higher priority than the release and safe return of all these hostages.”
“The State of Israel was born to be a safe place for the Jewish people. While it may not feel that way today… Israel must again be a safe place for the Jewish people... We are going to make sure you have what you need to protect your people, to defend your nation."
The U.S. leader also said that he will "ask the United States Congress for an unprecedented support package for Israel’s defense" later this week, including the replenishment of Iron Dome missile defense system interceptors.
Biden echoed his stern warning from last week to “any state or any hostile actor thinking about attacking Israel” from last week: “Don’t. Don’t. Don’t.”
Biden compared the national trauma Israel experienced from the October 7 attack to the impact felt by U.S. citizens after the September 11, 2001, attacks. He stated that for a nation the size of Israel, the Hamas attack was equivalent to "fifteen 9/11s."
He also addressed the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip due to the Israeli siege and repeated air strikes, emphasizing that the "vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas."
4 View gallery
Aftermath of Israeli strike on Gaza's Bureij neighborhood
(Photo: AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
"Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people. Hamas uses innocent families in Gaza as human shields; putting their command centers, their weapons, their communications tunnels, in residential areas. Palestinian people are suffering greatly as well," he said.
Biden also expressed his dismay over the deadly strike on a Gaza hospital that reportedly claimed the lives of hundreds of Palestinian civilians on Tuesday night.
“I was outraged and saddened by the enormous loss of life yesterday in the hospital in Gaza. Based on the information we have seen today it appears to be the result of an errand rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza.”
Biden noted that while Israel’s war cabinet has “agreed that humanitarian assistance can begin to move from Egypt to Gaza” under strict inspection, “If Hamas diverts or steals the assistance… they will have demonstrated once again they have no concern for the welfare of the Palestinian people and it will end.”
Additionally, he demanded that the International Red Cross be allowed to visit Israeli hostages held in Gaza and announced $100 million in new U.S. funding for humanitarian assistance in both Gaza and the West Bank. "This money will support more than one million displaced in conflicts affecting Palestinians, including emergency needs in Gaza," he said.
Biden also subtly criticized the Israeli government's efforts to overhaul the judiciary, which detractors argue would undermine Israel's democratic principles, saying that Israel, like the United States, is a democracy that “doesn’t live by the rules of terrorists, but the rule of law and when conflicts flare up, live by the law of war… What sets us apart from terrorists is that we believe in the fundamental dignity of every human life… you can’t give up on what makes you who you are. If you give that up, then the terrorists win. And we can never let them win.”
Biden reaffirmed his commitment to a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, as well as enhancing Israel's integration into the Middle East and signed off his remarks by saying, “the people of Israel live, Israel will be safe secure, Jewish and democratic state – today, tomorrow and forever.