Leaders in the House of Representatives got an unclassified briefing on the developing situation in Israel at 8 p.m. Sunday night, per a source familiar. Just one hour later, Senate leaders got their own briefing from the Biden administration.
During the call with House leadership, the White House confirmed that four Americans were killed in Israel over the weekend, Ben Siegel of ABC reported, adding that Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), speaker pro tempore, was on the call.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the Senate briefing included the chamber’s leaders and whips, as well as the chair and ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Select Committee on Intelligence, Armed Services Committee, Appropriations Committee, and its subcommittees on defense and foreign operations. Acting Deputy Toria Nuland and acting Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Sasha Baker were also present.
“I was briefed this evening by senior national security and State Department officials in the Biden administration. I expressed my outrage at what happened in Israel,” Schumer shared in a statement posted to social media.
Schumer said he was assured by the Defense Department that it is giving Israel everything it needs and said the Senate would be ready to deliver if the U.S. ally requires anything else.
“Unfortunately, we know there are Americans who were killed. The Administration told us that they know of four thus far, but sadly, we know the toll will rise,” Schumer continued. “I told senators that we will try to hold a classified briefing they can receive in their states as soon as possible so we can get additional details that could not be disclosed on this call.”
Hamas launched a surprise attack early Saturday, killing 600 Israelis and leaving 2,000 wounded. The Israeli counterattack in Gaza and at Hamas structures has left 313 Palestinians dead and 1,990 wounded, with the fatalities expected to increase on both sides.
President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the “unprecedented” attack, promising the United States’s full support as Israel has declared war on Hamas — the first time the nation has done so since 1973.
A U.S. official told the Associated Press that at least four Americans were killed after Hamas’s attack, and an additional seven are missing or unaccounted for. The number could change as a count is conducted, the official said.
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Though Biden has made clear his support for Israel in the midst of the violence in the area and is sending additional aid to the country, that has not stopped his critics from attacking him. Many U.S. leaders, predominantly conservatives, have criticized the president for not maintaining closer ties with Jerusalem during his presidency, and others see the newest conflict in the Middle East as being a larger sign of Biden’s weakness on the global stage.
Several Democratic and Republican lawmakers have come out in support of Israel’s military defense, while some Democratic officials and allies have called for peace on both sides and an end to the “occupation” of Israel.
