Rubio: Israel should completely eradicate Hamas in Gaza

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Monday that Israel “has no choice” but to completely eradicate Hamas in Gaza after it carried out the worst attack on Israel in its history.

“Israel has no choice but to seek the complete eradication of Hamas in Gaza,” Rubio wrote in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “There simply is no diplomatic solution or ‘measured response’ available.” 

Rubio, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, acknowledged that such action “will come at a horrifying price.”

Israel has already launched hundreds of rocket attacks on Gaza in response to the attacks by Hamas, which left at least 800 people in Israel dead.

But Rubio argued it was necessary given what he described as the savagery of Hamas, a political group that has been elected to govern Gaza but has also been designated by both the United States and European Union as a terrorist group. The Hamas attacks on Israel on Saturday included targeted attacks on civilians, such as people who had been attending a music festival.

“This tragically necessary effort will come at a horrifying price,” Rubio added. “But the price of failing to permanently eliminate this group of sadistic savages is even more horrifying.”

The remarks by Rubio likely reflect the kind of pressure GOP lawmakers also will be imposing on the Biden administration to firmly support Israel.

President Biden, who has pledged continued support for Israel, announced Monday that 11 Americans had been killed in the attacks, and he warned that American citizens are likely to be among those held hostage by Hamas. 

“As we continue to account for the horrors of the appalling terrorist assault against Israel this weekend and the hundreds of innocent civilians who were murdered, we are seeing the immense scale and reach of this tragedy,” Biden said in a statement Monday. “Sadly, we now know that at least 11 American citizens were among those killed — many of whom made a second home in Israel.”

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed to have hit more than 1,200 targets in Gaza between Saturday and Monday, noting that it has since “doubled that number.” Those strikes have killed hundreds of people in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that forces from his country will exact a “huge price” against Hamas for the attack.