Washington
CNN
—
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday the US is “working overtime” to verify reports of missing and dead Americans overseas after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack against Israel.
“We have reports that several Americans were killed. We’re working overtime to verify that. At the same time, there are reports of missing Americans and there again, we’re working to verify those reports,” Blinken told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”
The large-scale surprise attack by Gaza militants on Israel on Saturday has left hundreds of Israelis dead, prompting vows of retribution from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a lethal volley of retaliatory Israeli airstrikes.
It’s unclear what Israel’s full response will look like. An Israeli military spokesperson hinted that Israel may try to take full control of Gaza for the first time since 2005, and more than 20 communities near Gaza are being evacuated.
Blinken said an announcement on additional aid to Israel in response to the attack could be announced as soon as Sunday.
“We’re looking at specific additional requests that the Israelis have made – I think you’re likely to hear more about that later today,” Blinken said.
The top US diplomat added that President Joe Biden’s direction was to “make sure that we’re providing Israel everything it needs in this moment to deal with the attacks from Hamas.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
