1,000 Hamas fighters infiltrated Israel; most killed or back to Gaza: Blinken
Israel struck back including with airstrikes that flattened a 14-story tower that held Hamas offices.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday revealed that Americans may also have been taken hostage in the surprise assaults launched by the Hamas militants on Israel. Speaking on ABC's ‘This Week’, Blinken said as many as 1,000 Hamas fighters were reported to have participated in the attacks, which have left a trail of devastation in their wake.
When asked about the implications of the Israeli intelligence failure to the US, Blinken acknowledged saying they have a "very close relationship with Israeli intelligence, as well as with the Israeli military" but stressed that the priority was to deal with the aggression from Hamas.
"There remains intense fighting around Gaza. We continue to see that. The rest of the country right now seems to be calmer. But the intensity of the fighting is real and we had about 1,000 Hamas militants who infiltrated Israel. Most of them seem to have either been killed or have gone back into Gaza. "
The top US diplomat described the attacks as a "massive terrorist attack that is gunning down Israeli civilians in their towns, in their homes, and as we've seen so graphically, literally dragging people across the border with Gaza."
The rampage included an assault on a crowded music festival, where authorities had already removed about 260 bodies by Sunday. A senior Hamas official says the militant group is holding more than 100 people captive after its unprecedented assault on Israel.
Blinken emphasized the need for a collective response, stating, "The world should be revolted at what it has seen."
He engaged in diplomatic efforts by speaking with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates on Sunday. During these conversations, he encouraged their "continued engagement" and stressed the United States' commitment to halting the attacks by Hamas and securing the release of all hostages.
Blinken also discussed the potential involvement of Iran in supporting Hamas.
“Hamas wouldn't be around in the way that it is without the support that it's received from Iran over the years,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during interviews on the Sunday news shows, but he acknowledged that “we have not yet seen evidence that Iran directed or was behind this particular attack.”
He further linked the attacks to opposition against the efforts to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, as well as Israel's relations with countries in the region and beyond. Blinken noted that Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iran are the key opponents of these normalization efforts, suggesting a motive behind the attacks. "So to the extent that this was designed to try to derail the efforts that were being made, that speaks volumes," he remarked.
The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting behind closed doors Sunday but took no immediate action on a demand from the United States that all 15 members strongly condemn “these heinous terrorist attacks committed by Hamas."
