US President Joe Biden says he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – with whom he spoke by phone – that the US is ready to provide “all appropriate means of support” after the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched an attack on Israel, writes BBC.
Joe Biden Photo: Jacek Boczarski / AFP / Profimedia
“We have made it clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu that we are ready to provide all appropriate means of support to the Israeli government and people. Israel has the right to defend itself and to defend its people,” said Biden, following the discussion with the Israeli prime minister.
Previously, the Israeli prime minister also said that he was assured in the discussion with Joe Biden that “the United States supports Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Israeli emergency services estimate that around 70 people were killed in Israel and hundreds more were seriously injured in the attack launched by militants in Gaza, according to CNN.
The Islamist movement Hamas launched its biggest attack on Israel in years on Saturday in a surprise assault that combined armed fighters who crossed the border fence with a massive barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. Warning sirens sounded in southern and central Israel, including Jerusalem, and the Israeli army announced it was on war footing and mobilizing reservists. Benjamin Netanyahu called an emergency meeting of security chiefs as the Israeli military began striking Hamas targets and the response to the attack is expected to be devastating.
“We are at war and we will win. Our enemy will pay a price he has never known before,” Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message sent to Israelis.
