Biden Offers Israel “Appropriate Means of Support” after Hamas Launches Lethal Attacks

President Joe Biden led a resounding condemnation of what he called an “appalling assault on Israel by Hamas terrorists,” saying that the United States stands “ready to offer all appropriate means of support” to Israel.

“Terrorism is never justified. Israel has a right to defend itself and its people,” he said in a statement. “The United States warns against any other party hostile to Israel seeking advantage in this situation.”

U.S. politicians from both sides of the political aisle rushed to respond to rapidly unfolding events in Israel Saturday morning, as the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack, leading Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare that “we are at war.”

Israel’s rescue service said that 70 had been killed, while the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza reported at least 198 people had been killed and at least 1,610 wounded, as Israel responded to the incursions with retaliatory strikes. “Our enemy will pay a price the type of which it has never known,” Netanyahu vowed Saturday.

“Our commitment to Israel’s right to defend itself remains unwavering, and I extend my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this abhorrent attack on civilians,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement. Austin added that the DoD “will work to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself and protect civilians from indiscriminate violence and terrorism.”

A number of high-ranking politicians also responded quickly to the unfolding situation on Saturday. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ever ranking Jewish politician, wrote Saturday morning that “the U.S. stands with Israel in its unwavering right to defend itself. I stand ready to ensure Israel has the support to do so.” California Representative Kevin McCarthy, who was recently ousted as Speaker of the House, offered a similar statement on X.

Several Republicans running for president were quick to lay responsibility on Biden for the situation. In a statement, former President Donald Trump blamed “American taxpayer dollars” for helping “fund these attacks, which many reports are saying came from the Biden Administration.”

Trump did not explain what he meant, but his former running mate Mike Pence wrote on X that the attack is “what happens when @POTUS projects weakness on the world stage, kowtows to the mullahs in Iran with a $6 Billion ransom, and leaders in the Republican Party signal American retreat as Leader of the Free World.”

The $6 billion number is a reference to a September hostage exchange that unfroze $6 billion in Iranian funds but did not involve any U.S. taxpayer money.

Trump also said Israel “has every right to defend itself” in response to the attacks “with overwhelming force.” Those same words were used by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who wrote on X that the “dastardly terrorist attacks perpetrated against innocent Israeli civilians by Iran-backed terror group Hamas deserve a swift and lethal response,” and called on Israel to “respond with overwhelming force.”

In a video statement later in the morning, DeSantis similarly blamed “Joe Biden’s policies which have gone easy on Iran” for the war.