US State Secretary
Antony Blinken will travel to Israel from October 11 to 13 “to engage Israeli
partners directly about the situation on the ground,” said the US Department of
State in a statement.
Condemning
the attacks in strongest term, the Secretary will “reiterate his condolences
for the victims of the terrorist attacks against Israel” and reaffirm the
United States’ solidarity with the government and people of Israel,” said the
statement.
State
Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Blinken “looks forward to meeting
with senior leaders in the Israeli Government and continuing the discussions he
and the President have been having with them since the initial attacks on
Saturday…”
Besides, Blinken
will discuss measures to bolster Israel’s security and underscore the United
States’ unwavering support for Israel’s right to defend itself.
Meanwhile,
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said it was unclear how many American
citizens were taken hostage.
“We do not
know about their condition, and we cannot confirm a precise number of American
citizens. We will work hour by hour, both to determine whether we can account
for any of those Americans, or to confirm exactly what the number of Americans
are being held hostage, and we will come back to you with that information as
soon as we have it,” Sullivan said on Tuesday.
“As you
know, very sadly and tragically, the number of dead has risen with each passing
hour, and that’s true of the total number, it’s also true of Americans, which
has gone up just today from an earlier report this morning of 12 and 13, now
14…,” he added.
US
President Joe Biden has also confirmed the death of 14 Americans in Israel
adding that there were more US hostages in Israel.
Noting
that US knows that American citizens are among those being held by Hamas, Biden
said he has directed his team to share intelligence and deploy additional
experts from across the US Government.
He affirmed
to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US will continue to make
sure Israel has “what it needs” to defend itself and its people.
As many as
900 Israelis have been killed and over 2,616 people were injured after Hamas
launched a barbaric ‘surprise attack’ on Israel on October 7.
On the
other hand, over 770 Palestinians have also been killed in air raids after Israel
launched a strong counter-offensive. The Health Ministry in Gaza said at least
770 Palestinians have been killed and 4,000 wounded in Israeli air raids. Among
the dead are 140 children and 120 women, said a Ministry spokesperson.
ANI
