Joe Biden said Monday it was “likely” that “American citizens are among those held hostage by Hamas” and said his administration was working with Israeli authorities to secure their release, AFP reported.

The US president also announced in a press release that at least 11 Americans were killed in the attack by the Palestinian Islamist group, calling the news “heartbreaking”.

“This is not a remote tragedy,” the 80-year-old Democrat commented, referring to “so many American families affected by this attack and the wounds inflicted by millennia of anti-Semitism and persecution of the Jewish people.” “.

He said the police force had “increased security” around places where the United States’ Jewish community gathers.

“In these moments of sorrow, the American people stand with the Jewish people. We remember the pain of a terrorist attack in our own backyard, and Americans across the country are united in the face of these horrific acts that once again cost innocent American lives,” the president said.

The United States and Israel are “inseparable” allies, and Joe Biden, in a statement, pledged again to “make sure Israel has everything it needs to defend itself.”

Hamas on Monday threatened to execute the hostages in response to the Israeli attacks.

Read also:

• Benjamin Netanyahu threatens that Israel’s response to Hamas attack will “change the Middle East”

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