Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said on Sunday that among the 100 people kidnapped from Israel by Hamas terrorists was an elderly Holocaust survivor in a wheelchair.
Four Americans were also reportedly killed in the massacre that began Saturday morning CNN.
During an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, Blinken described the Palestinian terrorist act as the worst attack on Israel in 50 years, since the Yom Kippur War.
The top State Department official added that there was a “fundamental difference” between the 1973 war, which was “state to state, country to country, army to army”, and the attack launched by Hamas on Saturday, which he described as ‘a massive terrorist attack that is killing Israeli civilians in their villages, in their homes.’
The secretary, who just weeks ago, at the behest of the Biden administration, engineered the transfer of $6 billion to the Iranian regime, which funds Hamas, appeared to be referring to several horrifying videos circulating online of Israelis kidnapped by Palestinian gunmen.
“As we have seen so graphically, people are literally being dragged across the border with Gaza, including a Holocaust survivor in a wheelchair, women and children,” he said.
‘So you can imagine the impact it has throughout Israel, and the world should be revolted by what it has seen.’
Footage widely circulated on the internet over the weekend shows militant Hamas terrorists kidnapping Israelis and parading them through the streets of Gaza
Blinken also confirmed on Sunday that the administration believes several Americans have been killed in the ongoing conflict. That number is now believed to be four.
“We have reports that several Americans have been killed. We’re working overtime to verify that,’ he said on CNN’s State of the Union.
“At the same time, there are reports of missing Americans, and again we are working to verify those reports.”
About 100 people – mostly Israelis, but some Americans – have been taken by Hamas terrorists since the attack began on Saturday morning.
Ron Dermer, the Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs, confirmed the Americans were among the ‘scores’ of civilians kidnapped by Hamas.
It is unclear exactly how many Americans were taken, but the hostages include women, children and the elderly.
Eighty-five-year-old grandmother Yaffa Adar was tied up in a golf cart by a group of terrorists at gunpoint.
Her granddaughter Adva said the family lost contact with her late Saturday night after they received a message from her saying she could hear fighting in the streets. They later found her house burned down.
“We saw the videos showing men with guns taking her to Gaza. I can’t even begin to imagine how scared she is, she’s 85, she’s sick and she doesn’t have any medicine with her,” said Adva.
“She puts on a brave face, takes control of the situation and shows her captors a glimpse of her unbreakable determination.”
Hamas claimed to have fired 5,000 rockets into Israel from the occupied Gaza Strip, setting off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
The 85-year-old Yaffa Adar was tied up in a golf cart by a group of terrorists at gunpoint.
Another image shows a woman, who is being held hostage, holding a gun and raising her hands in a peace sign with a member of Hamas in a balaclava.
Israel has no choice but to meet violence with violence. The Middle East’s only democracy has every right to defend itself (Photo: Gaza on Sunday)
Israelis walk past a blown-up police station in Sderot that was destroyed during a battle with Hamas militants who overtook the building
Rockets are fired from Gaza into Israel on Saturday evening, October 7
A rescue worker from the Magen David Adom Disaster Relief Service looks on as cars burn at the site of a rocket attack in Ashkelon, southern Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a dire warning to Hamas militants on Saturday night: ‘I say to Hamas, you are responsible for the well-being of prisoners, Israel will settle the score with anyone who harms them.’
He vowed to defeat the group but said the war would ‘take time’, continuing: ‘What happened today has never been seen in Israel, we will take mighty revenge for this black day.’
He vowed “mighty revenge” and vowed to reduce Gaza to “rubble,” and told innocent Palestinians to leave immediately. Hamas, he said, will “pay a price it has never known.”
Soon after, it was reported that a transport of tanks was on its way to the border with Gaza.
Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organization that controls the Gaza Strip, launched a brutal attack against Israel on Saturday morning, sending 2,000 rockets into the neighboring territory, in addition to a brutal ground attack.
More than 700 Israelis are dead and thousands are missing and injured.
Palestinian terrorists were seen parading Israeli hostages through the streets in disturbing videos shared on social media.