President Joe Biden insists the United States has Israel's back, promising the country will get what it needs to "defend itself" amid an escalating crisis in the Middle East.
Fourteen Americans were killed by Hamas militants on Saturday when the terror group launched an unprecedented multi-pronged attack on Israel which left more than a thousand dead.
Mr Biden called it a "stomach-churning, sickening atrocity on an appalling scale — and a violation of every code of human morality."
The White House also confirmed some United States citizens are being held hostage in Gaza having been abducted during the assault.
From Washington, Benji Hyer reports.
IN: Joe Biden
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