Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Thursday and held a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the members of the country’s war cabinet, coming after Hamas attacks on its territory.
The alleged ISIS connection was invoked by Mr. Netanyahu at a news conference alongside Mr. Blinken on Thursday. He accused Hamas of using tactics similar to the terrorist group that controlled portions of Syria and Iraq in the 2010s and released videos showing journalists and others being tortured, beheaded, or executed in some other manner.
“Hamas is ISIS,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “And just as ISIS was crushed, so too will Hamas be crushed and Hamas should be treated exactly the way ISIS was treated. They should be spit out from the community of nations. No leaders should meet them. No country should harbor them. And those that do should be sanctioned.”
In his remarks Thursday, Mr. Blinken said that the “message” he has for Israel is that “you may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself, but as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to. We will always be there by your side.”
“That’s the message that President Biden delivered to the prime minister from the moment this crisis began. It’s the message that I and my other colleagues in the government have delivered to our Israeli counterparts on a daily, even an hourly basis,” he said in a news conference. “It’s the message that I bring with me to our discussions today, and it’s what I'll affirm when I meet with the members of Israel’s newly formed national emergency government. We welcome the government’s creation and the unity and resolve that it reflects across Israel’s society.”
The number of U.S. citizens killed by Hamas increased to 25 on Thursday, the secretary of state said. At least 17 Americans are missing, he also said, while other officials have said that Hamas is holding some American nationals hostage in Gaza.
“I can tell you there is overwhelming ... bipartisan support in our Congress for Israel’s security here in Israel and everywhere,” Mr. Blinken added.
Israel has vowed to annihilate the Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip, in retribution for the deadliest attack on civilians in its history when hundreds of gunmen crossed the barrier and rampaged through Israeli towns on Saturday.
Public broadcaster Kan said the Israeli death toll had risen to more than 1,300. Most were civilians gunned down in their homes, on the streets, or at a dance party. Scores of Israeli and foreign hostages were taken back to Gaza; Israel says it has identified 97 of them.
Israel has responded so far by putting Gaza, home to 2.3 million people, under total siege and launching by far the most powerful bombing campaign in the 75-year history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, destroying whole neighborhoods.
More Warnings
An Iran-backed group based in Iraq this week threatened to attack U.S. military bases in the region if Washington provides assistance to Israel against Hamas.Mr. Hamidawi said that Kataib Hezbollah, which is separate from the Lebanon-based terrorist organization and political party Hezbollah, has a “duty to stand in solidarity with the Palestinians” and praised Hamas after the group—also a State Department-designated terror organization—launched multiple assaults targeting Israeli civilians over the past weekend.
“If [the Americans] intervene, we would intervene,” another local militant, Hadi al-Amiri of the Badr Organization, was quoted by PressTV as saying. “We will consider all American targets legitimate.”
U.S. officials have accused the group of previous attacks on U.S. interests in Iraq. The group has denied the claims.
Over the years, U.S. officials say that Kataib Hezbollah has launched missiles and rockets at U.S. assets in Iraq, prompting American retaliatory strikes. In 2020, the U.S. military struck five Kataib Hezbollah sites in Iraq.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, a spokesman for Iraq’s government also criticized Israel for launching retaliatory strikes against Hamas in Gaza this week.
“We urge global intervention to restore Palestinian rights, cautioning against escalation that could destabilize the region, and call for an urgent Arab League meeting on the Palestinian situation,” government spokesman Basim al-Awadi said, according to Iranian state media.
A top Shiite cleric based in Iraq, Muqtada al-Sadr, also called for “large-scale demonstrations and jihad against Israel, and Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid also said that he backs the Palestinians. The U.S. currently has about 2,000 troops still stationed in Iraq, and a few hundred remaining in Syria.
“We hereby reiterate Iraq’s steadfast position on the Palestinian issue, which unequivocally demonstrates our complete support for the Palestinian people in their pursuit of their rightful and legitimate rights,” Mr. Rashid said over the past weekend. “We condemn the heinous acts of aggression perpetrated against the Palestinian people. We implore the international community to fulfill its legal and moral obligations in order to attain justice and ensure the legitimate rights of the Palestinian population,” he said.
