(The Hill) – Former President Obama on Monday sharply condemned Hamas’s “brazen terrorist attacks” against Israel, which have left hundreds dead in recent days.
“All Americans should be horrified and outraged by the brazen terrorist attacks on Israel and the slaughter of innocent civilians. We grieve for those who died, pray for the safe return of those who’ve been held hostage, and stand squarely alongside our ally, Israel, as it dismantles Hamas,” Obama said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“As we support Israel’s right to defend itself against terror, we must keep striving for a just and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” the former president added.
Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, launched attacks over the weekend against Israel, which prompted a counterattack from Israeli forces.
“We are at war,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address on Saturday.
The death toll has climbed to more than 1,000 in Israel and Gaza as of Monday.
President Biden, who previously served as vice president in the Obama administration, also condemned the attacks over the weekend and promised his administration’s “rock solid and unwavering” support for Israel’s security amid the conflict.
He announced on Monday that the number of Americans killed in the attacks against Israel had reached 11, and that more are still unaccounted for.
Hamas reportedly captured Israeli citizens and soldiers in the attacks and is holding them hostage. Biden said American citizens may be among them.
“This is not some distant tragedy. The ties between Israel and the United States run deep. It is personal for so many American families who are feeling the pain of this attack as well as the scars inflicted through millennia of antisemitism and persecution of Jewish people,” the president said on Monday.