Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the United States for its “incredible support for Israel.” “Hamas is ISIS, and just as ISIS was defeated, Hamas must be defeated,” Netanyahu said at a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who arrived in Tel Aviv on Thursday.

US Secretary of State Anthony BlinkenPhoto: Alex Brandon/AFP/Profimedia

Netanyahu said Hamas had “killed entire families”, “burned people alive” and carried out “beheadings” and should be “destroyed” as ISIS was defeated.

“They should be blamed by the community of nations. No leader should meet them, no country should hide them. And those who do this must be punished,” said the Prime Minister of Israel, quoted by The Guardian and CNN.

“We must stand proud, tall and united in the face of evil. Thank you, America, for standing by Israel today, tomorrow and always,” Benjamin Netanyahu added.

Blinken: Hamas has only one goal: to destroy Israel

In turn, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Hamas has only one goal: to destroy Israel, and “no country should allow that.”

“This is an incredibly difficult time for the whole world. I am speaking before you not only as an American Secretary of State, but also as a Jew. My grandfather escaped from pogroms in Russia, my stepfather survived the Auschwitz concentration camp. I can’t look at pictures of murdered families and not think about my children. Babies were sacrificed, corpses were desecrated, young men were burned alive, women were raped, parents were executed in front of their children, children in front of their parents. How can we understand the mass murders of Hamas?” said the US Secretary of State.

He said the US will always support Israel and is keeping its promise by delivering ammunition, and more US weapons are on the way.

“There is no justification for these atrocities. As a result of the attacks, people from 36 countries have died or are missing. No one escaped the bloody hand of Hamas. Hamas has only one goal: to destroy Israel, no country should allow it. In these times we must unite and condemn evil. That is what the United States will do, it will support Israel and all those in the region who are involved in the peacekeeping mission in the Middle East,” Blinken said.

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