Biden: "All Efforts for Release of American Hostages... Hamas Is Barbarism Itself"

As of the 14th, Estimated 27 Foreign Deaths in the US
Biden "Will Do Our Best to Bring Americans Home"

U.S. President Joe Biden criticized the Palestinian armed group Hamas for killing and abducting civilians near the Israeli border, calling it "barbarism itself, not human behavior."

President Joe Biden of the United States. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 14th (local time), President Biden appeared on CBS's news interview program "60 Minutes" and said he would do everything possible to ensure the return of Americans abducted by Hamas.

He also stated that he had spoken by phone with the families of 14 missing Americans in Israel and that efforts are underway to determine the current whereabouts of the hostages.

Since Hamas's surprise attack on the 7th, they have indiscriminately killed soldiers and civilians mainly near the Israeli border and abducted at least 150 hostages. Among them were not only Israelis but also foreigners and dual nationals.

It is estimated that at least 27 Americans have died as a result of Hamas's surprise attack so far.

President Biden emphasized, "The families of the missing need to know that the President of the United States deeply cares about what has happened to them," and added, "If we can find the missing, we will do everything possible to bring them home." The full transcript of Biden's interview will be released on the 15th.

Earlier, on the 12th, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel to discuss the safe release of American hostages taken to the Gaza Strip. As the Israeli military retaliated against Hamas's surprise attack, airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have continued endlessly. On that day, Hamas stated in a press release that 13 hostages lost their lives due to Israeli airstrikes across Gaza within the past 24 hours.

The Israeli military has issued an evacuation order for 1.1 million people, half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents, to move southward as of the previous day. The Israeli military warned through a statement that a large-scale military operation within Gaza City would take place within days, signaling intense urban warfare.

The United Nations also announced that it had been given a 24-hour deadline for the movement to take place. However, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that only tens of thousands of residents have moved southward since Israel's notification as of that day.

UN Secretary-General Ant?nio Guterres appealed for the protection of civilians during a UN Security Council meeting, stating, "There are rules even in war."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.