US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated Hamas has grown
stronger with Iran’s support in recent years. However, he also mentioned that
there is no direct evidence of Iran’s involvement in the specific Hamas attack
on Israel, reported ABC news on Sunday.
In an interview with ABC News, the US Secretary said, “There’s a
long relationship between Iran and Hamas. In fact, Hamas wouldn’t be Hamas
without the support that it’s gotten over many years from Iran. We haven’t yet
seen direct evidence that Iran was behind this particular attack is involved,
but the support over many years is clear.”
He added, “It’s one of the reasons that over the last couple of
years, we have been resolutely working against Iran’s support for terrorism,
for destabilizing actions in other countries. We’ve sanctioned more than 400
Iranian individuals and entities precisely for the kind of support that they’ve
offered Hamas in the past. And it’s something that we remain extremely vigilant
about.”
Blinken went on to mention the extent of devastation that happened
after the Hamas attack on Israel and said the “massive” terrorist attack is
gunning down Israeli civilians.
He further said, “This is a massive terrorist attack that is
gunning down Israeli civilians in their towns, and as we’ve seen so
graphically, literally dragging people across the border with Gaza, including a
Holocaust survivor in a wheelchair, women and children. So, you can imagine the
impact this is having throughout Israel. And the world should be revolted at
what it’s seen.”
Additionally, in a separate interview with CNN, Secretary of State
Antony Blinken said US is working to verify reports of missing and dead
Americans after Hamas launched an attack in Israel.
“We have reports that several Americans were killed. We’re working
overtime to verify that. At the same time, there are reports of missing
Americans and there again, we’re working to verify those reports.”
Blinken on Saturday (US local time) discussed Hamas’ attack on
Israel with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, the UK
Foreign Secretary and Qatari Prime Minister.
In a major escalation on Saturday, Hamas launched a “surprise
attack” on Israel, firing a barrage of rockets into the southern and central
parts of the country.
The toll from the rocket attacks and ground assault by Hamas went
past 400 on Sunday, with another 1,864 people reported to be injured.
ANI
