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Biden: Hamas attack is moment when ‘a pure, unadulterated evil is unleashed upon the world’
WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Joe Biden issued a forceful condemnation of Hamas, and pledged American support for Israel, as he announced that the number of American dead from the terror group’s invasion of Israel is now 14.
As many as 20 Americans are missing, according to the White House.
In an address on Tuesday, the fourth day of Israel’s war with Hamas, Biden also pledged to keep Israel stocked with defensive equipment.
“There are moments in this life when a pure, unadulterated evil is unleashed upon the world,” Biden said, speaking from the White House and flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. ”The people of Israel lived through one such moment this weekend.”
Terrorists killed more than 900 people, injured thousands more and kidnapped more than 100 after pouring over the Gaza border. Israel has declared war, initiated what a senior official called a “complete siege” of Gaza and has hit the coastal strip with airstrikes, killing more than 800.
Biden said the number of American dead was at least 14, three more than the 11 he reported in a statement on Monday. He also confirmed for the first time that Americans were among those abducted. Relatives of U.S. citizens who went missing during the invasion held a press conference in Tel Aviv Tuesday.
“We now know that American citizens are among those being held by Hamas,” Biden said, without giving a number. “I’m directing my team to share intelligence and deploy additional experts from across the United States government to consult with and advise Israeli counterparts on hostage recovery and recovery efforts. Because as President, I have no higher priority than the safety of Americans being held hostage around the world.”
Jake Sullivan, Biden’s National Security Advisor, said afterward that it was not clear how many Americans were among those abducted, but that at least 20 Americans were missing. He emphasized that he did not if the missing were all hostages.
Biden said that he had just spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had made requests for equipment.
“From the moment this crisis began, we were surging additional military assistance including ammunition and interceptors to replenish Iron Dome,” Biden said, referring to Israel’s missile defense system. “We’re going to make sure that Israel does not run out of its critical assets to defend its cities and its citizens.”
Biden said he would soon make new requests for defense assistance funding to Congress. Sullivan confirmed that Netanyahu made additional requests for equipment, but he declined to give details.
Biden noted, as he has in recent days, that he sent naval reinforcements to the region as a deterrent. “Let me say again, to any country, any organization, anyone thinking of taking advantage of the situation, I have one word: Don’t. Don’t.”
Sullivan said Iran shared the blame for the invasion, even absent direct evidence of Iranian involvement. He cited Iran’s longstanding financial support for and training of Hamas.
He said Iran is liable for “broad complicity based on the longstanding support that Hamas is given by Iran. We don’t have specific information that ties Iran to this attack.”
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.