Blinken criticizes world leaders who have failed to condemn Hamas, says 'there is no justification for these atrocities'

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke at a live press conference in Tel Aviv on Thursday, following the unprecedented Hamas terror group's attack over the weekend, killing more than 1,300 people.

Blinken expressed his horror over the atrocities committed by the Hamas terrorists, citing his own family’s experiences during the Holocaust and vowing America’s unwavering support for the Jewish state.

“The message that I bring to Israel is this: 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 that this crisis began,” he said.

“We are delivering on our word,” Blinken said. “Supplying ammunition interceptors to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome, alongside other defense material. The first shipments of US military support have already arrived in Israel, and more is on the way. As Israel’s defense needs evolve, we will work with Congress to make sure that they are met,” he pledged.

“And I can tell you there is overwhelming, overwhelming bipartisan support in our Congress for Israel’s security.”

Blinken, who is of Jewish descent, said he was grateful to be back in Israel during "this incredibly difficult moment, for this nation, but in fact for the entire world.”

The secretary recounted stories of his grandfather fleeing Russia and his stepfather surviving concentration camps in the Holocaust.

“I understand personally the harrowing echoes that Hamas’s massacres carry for Israeli Jews, indeed for Jews everywhere,” he said.

“I also come before you as a husband and father of young children. It’s impossible for me to look at the photos of families killed, such as the mother, father, and three small children murdered as they sheltered in their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, and not think of my own children,” he continued.

“This was just one of Hamas’ countless acts of terror in a litany of brutality and inhumanity that, yes, brings to mind the worst of ISIS,” Blinken said.

“Babies slaughtered, bodies desecrated, young people burned alive, women raped, parents executed in front of their children, children in front of their parents. “How are we even to understand this, to digest this?"

“And yet, at the same time that we’ve been shocked by the depravity of Hamas, we’ve also been inspired by the bravery of Israel’s citizens,” he continued.

Blinken expressed admiration for the “remarkable solidarity” of the Israeli people and their support for one another during this time, recounting the long lines of people giving blood, the many reservists who flew home to join military forces, and citizens who opened their home to others who have been displaced.

“The grandfather who drove over an hour to a kibbutz under siege armed only with a pistol and rescued his kids and grandkids. The mother who died shielding her teenage son with her body, giving her life to save his; giving him life for a second time. The volunteer security teams on the kibbutzes who swiftly rallied to defend their friends and neighbors despite being heavily outnumbered.”

“The people of Israel have long and rightly prided themselves on their self-reliance, on their ability to defend themselves even when the odds are stacked against them,” Blinken continued.

The state secretary reiterated America’s warning against any others who may be thinking of taking advantage of the crisis to attack Israel: “Don’t. The United States has Israel’s back.”

The U.S. Biden administration has sent munitions, fighter jets and aircraft carriers to and around Israel, including one of the world’s largest aircraft carriers, the USS Gerald R. Ford.

Blinken criticized world leaders who have failed to condemn terrorism against Israel, thereby putting people everywhere at risk.

“There is no excuse, there is no justification for these atrocities,” he said. “This is, this must be, a moment for moral clarity.”

Citizens from 36 countries have been killed or are missing from the Hamas attack, Blinken reported.

“Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas – no region has escaped Hama’s bloody reach. Anyone who wants peace and justice, must condemn Hamas’ reign of terror.”

“We know Hamas doesn’t represent the Palestinian people” or their legitimate aspirations, Blinken continued. “We know Hamas rules repressively and dedicates the resources it has to terror tunnels and rockets… We know Hamas does not stand for the future the Palestinians want for themselves and their children. Hamas has only one agenda: To destroy Israel and to murder Jews."

“No country can or would tolerate the slaughter of its citizens, or simply return to the conditions that allowed it to take place,” Blinken affirmed. “Israel has the right, indeed the obligation, to defend itself and to ensure that this never happens again.”

While Blinken strongly condemned the terrorist group, he urged democracies to take every precaution available to avoid causing civilian casualties.

“As the prime minister and I discussed, how Israel does this matters. We democracies distinguish ourselves from terrorists by striving for different standards even when it is difficult, and holding ourselves to account when we fall short. Our humanity, the value that we place on human life and human dignity, that’s what makes us who we are. And we count them among our greatest strengths. That is why it is so important to take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians.”

Blinken shared the latest statistics, announcing that “at least 25 American citizens were killed" during the Hamas invasion and attack.

“I come before you not only as the United States secretary of state, but also as a Jew.”

“My grandfather, Maurice Blinken, fled pogroms in Russia. My stepfather, Samuel Pisar, survived concentration camps – Auschwitz, Dachau, Majdanek,” Blinken said as he referenced both eastern European persecution and the Holocaust.

“In this moment, where evil, hatred and madness have once more taken so many innocent lives, we must stand together, and resolve to confront what is worst among humanity with what is best. We must provide an alternative to the vision of violence and fear, nihilism and terror, presented by Hamas. That is what the United States will do, standing with Israel, working together with its people and all those in this region who remain committed to the vision of a more peaceful, more integrated, more secure and more prosperous Middle East.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who spoke at the press briefing prior to Blinken, welcomed the secretary of state as his “good friend” and offered his gratefulness to the United States.

“Thank you, thanks to President Biden, and thank you to the American people for your incredible support for Israel in our war against the barbarians of Hamas,” Netanyahu began.

“You have come to a hurting nation, a fighting nation, a nation of lions, a nation that is determined to defeat the forces of evil around us,” the prime minister declared in Hebrew.

Continuing in English, Netanyahu said, “Hamas has shown itself to be an enemy of civilization.”

The prime minister recounted the “massacring of young people in an outdoor music festival, the butchering of entire families, the murder of parents in front of their children and the murder of children in front of their parents. The burning of people alive. The beheadings. The kidnappings-of a young boy, not only kidnapped, molested, hurt, attacked.”

Netanyahu condemned “the sickening display of celebrating these horrors-the celebration and glorification of evil.”

“President Biden was absolutely correct in calling this sheer evil,” Netanyahu continued.

“Hamas is ISIS, and just as ISIS was crushed, so, too, should Hamas be crushed.

“And Hamas should be treated exactly as ISIS was treated. They should be spit out from the community of nations. No leader should meet them. No country should harbor them. And those that do should be sanctioned,” he urged.

“There will be many difficult days ahead,” Netanyahu continued, saying he has "no doubt that the forces of civilization will win, and the reason that’s true is because we understand what is the first prerequisite of victory. It’s what you just said in our meeting-moral clarity.”

“This is a time, a particular time, a special time, that we must stand tall, proud and united against evil. Tony, you are taking that stand; America is taking that stand,” he said, calling Blinken’s visit “another tangible example of America’s unequivocal support for Israel.”

“Thank you, America, for standing with Israel today, tomorrow, and always,” the prime minister said as he shook Blinken's hand.

The press conference was held at the Kirya IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu and Blinken were scheduled to meet later today with members of the newly-formed emergency unity government, which includes the prime minister, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, National Unity party leader Benny Gantz, and Knesset Member Gadi Eisenkot, a former IDF chief of staff, according to Israeli news outlets.