At least nine Americans are dead and more are missing after the Hamas terrorist assault on Israel over the weekend, the State Department said Monday, as the death toll rises in the region’s bloodiest fighting in decades.
Biden administration officials could not confirm reports that Hamas has taken some Americans hostage as part of its well-coordinated attack. Dozens of Israelis were taken hostage during the terrorist operation. More than 700 were killed, including Americans.
“I can confirm that nine Americans unfortunately lost their lives as a result of these horrific attacks in the region,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told CNN on Monday. “We are in close contact with the government of Israel as they continue to conduct security operations to locate missing U.S. citizens, missing Israeli citizens, and we are of course in close contact with the families of these nine deceased Americans and offering them any consular assistance we can provide.”
More U.S. citizens are missing, Mr. Miller said, but it is difficult to know exactly how many.
“It’s very hard to say. It’s a number that moves all the time as the Israeli military continues to conduct military operations,” he said. “There are missing Americans who are unaccounted for.”
It’s possible at least some of those Americans are among the hostages taken by Hamas militants, though Mr. Miller said the State Department “cannot confirm” that is the case.
The Biden administration has stressed that the U.S. will stand behind Israel as it conducts retaliatory operations against Iran-backed Hamas terrorists in Gaza. The U.S. military also has sent its own assets to the region.
The Pentagon announced Sunday it is sending the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group to the region as a show of force and solidarity with Israel.
In addition to the aircraft carrier and its air wing, the strike group includes the guided missile cruiser USS Normandy and four guided missile destroyers — the USS Thomas Hudner, the USS Ramage, the USS Carney and the USS Roosevelt.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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