President Joe Biden said Monday that Americans are likely being held hostage by Palestinian militant group Hamas after its surprise attack on Israel, and that at least 11 US citizens were killed in the assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hamas dragged off about 150 hostages in its weekend onslaught on southern Israel from Gaza, an attack that a senior US defense official said involved \u201cISIS-level savagery\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hamas threatened on Monday to kill the hostages if retaliatory Israeli air strikes continue \u201ctargeting\u201d Gaza residents without warning.
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The threat came after Israel imposed a total siege on the Gaza Strip, cutting off the water supply, which sparked UN fears of an increasingly dire humanitarian situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden said that Washington, which has moved an aircraft carrier closer to Israel in a show of support, was working with its key ally on efforts to recover the hostages after the \u201cheart-wrenching\u201d attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSadly, we now know that at least 11 American citizens were among those killed \u2014 many of whom made a second home in Israel,\u201d Biden said in a statement after meeting his national security team at the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile we are still working to confirm, we believe it is likely that American citizens may be among those being held by Hamas,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have directed my team to work with their Israeli counterparts on every aspect of the hostage crisis, including sharing intelligence and deploying experts from across the United States government to consult with and advise Israeli counterparts on hostage recovery efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden added that the safety of American citizens at home or abroad was his \u201ctop priority as president\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Savagery<\/strong> The United States sent its largest aircraft carrier and five other warships near Israel in a show of support on Sunday, while boosting fighter aircraft squadrons in the region. A senior US defense official said Monday said the hostages were the subject of intense engagement with the Israelis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are continual conversations across the US government with all of our Israeli counterparts about the situation of hostages that Hamas is holding in Gaza,\u201d the official told journalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The US official also likened the attacks by Hamas to the notorious brutality of the Islamic State jihadist group, which is known by the acronym ISIS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is ISIS-level savagery that we have seen committed against Israeli civilians \u2014 houses burned to the ground, young people massacred at music festivals,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The United States has meanwhile warned other parties not to get involved, as fears of a regional conflagration grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lebanese militant group Hezbollah should not make the \u201cwrong decision\u201d of opening a second front against Israel as it battles Hamas, the defense official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President Joe Biden said Monday that Americans are likely being held hostage by Palestinian militant group Hamas after its surprise attack on Israel, and that at least 11 US citizens<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8418,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_rishi_post_view_count":244},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politica","rishi-post"],"rishi__cb_customizer_meta":"","comments_count":"0","yoast_head":"\n
Reeling from the Palestinian Islamist group\u2019s unprecedented ground, air and sea attacks, Israel has counted 800 dead and launched a withering barrage of strikes on Gaza that have raised the death toll there to 687.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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