Israel bombards Gaza in battle with Hamas as death tolls on both sides of war rise

The death toll in the Israel-Hamas war continued to climb on Tuesday, four days after the Hamas militant group launched a surprise assault on Israel from Gaza — leading Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare, “We are at war.” 

President Biden called the assault —which claimed more than 1,200 lives, including 14 Americans— “an act of sheer evil.” Mr. Biden said American citizens are also among those being held captive by Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and has long been designated a terrorist organization by the United States.

In remarks delivered from the White House Tuesday, the president said the people of Israel experienced “pure, unadulterated evil” at the “bloody hands” of Hamas.

“Parents butchered using their bodies to try to protect their children,” the president said. “Stomach-turning reports of babies being killed. Entire families slain. Young people massacred while attending a musical festival to celebrate peace. … Women raped, assaulted, paraded as trophies.”

“In this moment, we must be crystal clear: We stand with Israel. We stand with Israel,” he said. “And we will make sure Israel has what is needed to take care of its citizens, take care of itself and respond to this attack. There’s no justification for terrorism. There’s no excuse.”

In addition to those killed in Israel, another 2,700 were reported wounded, an IDF spokesperson confirmed to Reuters early Wednesday. More than 250 of the dead were Israelis who came under attack at the Supernova music festival near the border with Gaza when militants opened fire on the crowd. 

Israeli officials also say Hamas fighters captured more than 100 hostages, including women, children and elderly people, who were apparently taken into Gaza as captives. 

At least 900 people, including at least 140 children, have been killed in the Gaza Strip by Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. At least 4500 have been wounded.

The coordinated, multi-front attack on Israel from Gaza came almost 50 years to the day since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and marked a dramatic escalation in the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict.