Blinken: ‘We stand in solidarity’ with Israel

Secretary of State Antony Blinken publicly backed Israel amid unprecedented attacks on the country Saturday.

“We unequivocally condemn the appalling attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israel,” he said on X, formerly Twitter. “We stand in solidarity with the government and people of Israel and extend our condolences for the Israeli lives lost in these attacks.”

The Palestinian militant group Hamas launched the largest attack on Israel in decades early Saturday, invading multiple Israeli towns from Gaza and launching masses of missiles into the country.

At least 250 Israelis and 232 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting, according to Israeli media reports and the Palestinian government. 

Blinken’s comments echoed those by other U.S. officials including President Biden, who spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone Saturday.

“The United States unequivocally condemns this appalling assault against Israel by Hamas terrorists from Gaza, and I made clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu that we stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support to the Government and people of Israel,” Biden said in a statement.

Dozens of members of congress and Republican presidential candidates also condemned the violence.

Governments in Europe and the U.S. have pledged to support Israel amid rising violence, while nations in the Middle East have mostly condemned Israel for its role in the ongoing conflict with Palestine.

The attacks come on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah and is nearly 50 years to the day after the beginning of the 1973 Yom Kippur war.

In a public address early Saturday, Netanyahu called the conflict a “war.”

“We are at war,” he said. “Not an ‘operation,’ not a ‘round,’ but at war.”

“The enemy will pay an unprecedented price,” he added, promising that Israel would “return fire of a magnitude that the enemy has not known.”

Updated 4:05 p.m.