CBS News
Israel vows to “destroy Hamas” as 650 reportedly killed in huge Palestinian attack and Israeli response
Tel Aviv — Israeli soldiers continued battling Hamas militants in the streets of southern Israel Sunday, while in the north of the country they exchanged fire with Hezbollah militants launching rockets from Lebanon. Some Israeli communities along the Lebanon border were urged to evacuate.
At least 350 Israelis have been killed and 1,800 wounded since Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from Gaza early Saturday morning, with many Israelis, both civilians and security forces, reportedly taken hostage.
It was the deadliest day in decades in the long-running Israel-Palestinian conflict. More than 300 Palestinians have been killed in retaliatory Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, Palestinian health officials said Sunday.
“The people of Israel are under attack, orchestrated by a terrorist organization, Hamas,” President Biden said Saturday. “I want to say to them and to the world, and to terrorists everywhere, that the United States stands with Israel.”
“We’ll make sure that they have the help their citizens need, and they can continue to defend themselves,” Mr. Biden added.
Other U.S. politicians were quick to condemn the Hamas assault and pledge support for Israel.
Who attacked Israel?
Early Saturday morning, as Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip launched thousands of missiles from the small, blockaded Palestinian territory, dozens more broke through the heavily fortified border fence and crossed into Israeli communities on motorcycles, paragliders and pickup trucks, initiating an offensive that appeared to take Israel completely by surprise.
Hamas sent fighters storming into an estimated 22 separate locations in southern Israel, shooting people in the streets and abducting both civilians and Israel security forces and taking them back to Gaza.
RONEN ZVULUN/REUTERS
Hamas is the Palestinian militant faction that governs the Gaza Strip, a 230-square-mile area where more than two million people live. Israel and the U.S. have designated Hamas a terror organization, and both countries accuse Iran of directly funding and supporting the group.
Gaza is one of the most densely populated places in the world and has been under Israeli blockade since 2007.
Israeli authorities said they were still fighting Hamas militants in six locations inside Israel Sunday morning.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that Israel was engaged in “a long and difficult war,” and he vowed that the Israeli military would use all of its strength to destroy Hamas.
Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto/Getty
“All the places that Hamas hides in, operates from, we will turn them into ruins,” Netanyahu said.
“Get out of there,” Netanyahu urged Gaza residents, who have no way to leave the blockaded territory, as Israel cut off electricity to the region.
The Lebanon-based Hezbollah group, meanwhile, said it fired dozens of rockets Sunday morning at Israeli positions in a disputed, Israeli-occupied region known as the Golan Heights, which borders Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Hezbollah said the attack using “large numbers of rockets and shells” was launched in solidarity with the “Palestinian resistance.”
The U.S. government says that, like Hamas, Hezbollah gets most of its funding and support from Iran.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Washington — President Biden is set to travel to the battleground state of Wisconsin on Friday for a campaign rally, marking the start of a crucial weekend for his reelection bid as he seeks to assuage concerns about his fitness for a second term sparked by his startling debate performance just over one week ago.
In addition to the campaign event in Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday afternoon, Mr. Biden will tape an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, which the network said will air in full Friday night. The president will also head to Philadelphia for another campaign event on Sunday, capping the July 4 holiday weekend with a visit to a second battleground state.
The president’s appearances are coming under new scrutiny following his poor showing against former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, in the first general election debate on June 27. Mr. Biden blamed his performance on a busy travel schedule leading up to the face-off with Trump, saying during a campaign event Tuesday that he “almost fell asleep” on stage after making two trips to Europe in June.
In a pair of radio interviews that aired Thursday, Mr. Biden admitted he had a “bad debate” and that he “screwed up.”
Mr. Biden’s campaign and the White House sought to brush off concerns about his lackluster performance by insisting he had a cold and that the debate fiasco was simply a “bad night.” As part of efforts to quiet concerns about Mr. Biden and his age, he and Vice President Kamala Harris participated in a call with campaign staff on Wednesday, and they met with 20 Democratic governors at the White House later that evening. Mr. Biden also spoke with the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate, as well as other key allies on Capitol Hill.
The president has maintained the same message throughout the outreach, according to participants: he is in the race to defeat Trump and will not be pushed out.
“I learned from my father, when you get knocked down, just get back up, get back up,” Mr. Biden told “The Earl Ingram Show,” which airs in Wisconsin, in the radio interview Thursday. “And you know we’re going to win this election, we’re going to just beat Donald Trump.”
Amid the assurances, two House Democrats have openly called on Mr. Biden to withdraw from the presidential race: Reps. Lloyd Doggett of Texas and Raúl Grijalva of Arizona. Others, meanwhile, have publicly urged the president to take steps to prove to voters, elected Democrats and party donors that he is fit for a second term in the White House.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings