US officials call for ceasefire, decry ‘scale of death, destruction’ in Gaza in Oct. 7 remarks

(JNS) U.S. President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and senior members of the administration released statements on Monday marking the one-year anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7. In their statements, the senior U.S. officials appeared to treat the date as a static day of suffering for Jews—the worst since the Holocaust—and the following year as one solely of destruction to the Gaza Strip, and, more recently, Lebanon, without mentioning continued attacks from Hamas and Hezbollah.

“I believe that history will also remember Oct. 7 as a dark day for the Palestinian people because of the conflict that Hamas unleashed that day. Far too many civilians have suffered far too much during this year of conflict—and tens of thousands have been killed, a human toll made far worse by terrorists hiding and operating among innocent people,” Biden stated. “We will not stop working to achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza that brings the hostages home, allows for a surge in humanitarian aid to ease the suffering on the ground, assures Israel’s security and ends this war.”

The U.S. president said Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks “brought to the surface painful memories left by millennia of hatred and violence against the Jewish people,” and “strongly” condemned “the vicious surge in antisemitism in America and around the world.”

“It is unacceptable,” he stated. “All of us must stand united against antisemitism and against hate in all its forms.”

Biden added that Washington supports the Jewish state’s right to self-defense “against attacks from Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and Iran.”

He pointed out that last week, “at my direction, the United States military once again actively assisted in the successful defense of Israel, helping to defeat an Iranian ballistic-missile attack.” The president did not note the thousands of rockets that Hezbollah has rained on Israel since Oct. 8 nor additional attacks from Hamas over the past year.

Harris stated that “what Hamas did that day was pure evil—it was brutal and sickening, and it has rekindled a deep fear among the Jewish people not just in Israel, but in the United States and around the world.”

The vice president, who is the Democratic nominee for president, noted that “the long, extraordinary arc of Jewish history is full of pogroms and prejudice, slaughter and separation, and now, in our own generation, there is another moment that the world must never forget.”

Harris added that Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks “launched a war in Gaza.”

“I am heartbroken over the scale of death and destruction in Gaza over the past year—tens of thousands of lives lost, children fleeing for safety over and over again, mothers and fathers struggling to obtain food, water and medicine,” she said. “It is far past time for a hostage and ceasefire deal to end the suffering of innocent people. And I will always fight for the Palestinian people to be able to realize their right to dignity, freedom, security and self-determination.”

The vice president added that Washington still believes “that a diplomatic solution across the Israel-Lebanon border region is the only path to restore lasting calm and allow residents on both sides to return safely to their homes.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is Jewish, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also released statements marking the anniversary of the assault in Israel.

Blinken noted that “the depravity of Hamas’s crimes is almost unspeakable,” adding that the atrocities “unleashed a year of conflict, with tragic consequences for the Palestinian people. The United States mourns the death of every innocent who died on Oct. 7 and in the year since.”

“It is time to reach a ceasefire agreement that brings the hostages home, alleviates the suffering of the Israeli and Palestinian people, and ultimately brings an end to this war,” Blinken said.

Austin referred to the attack as “a stark reminder of the threat posed by Hamas and other terrorist organizations backed by Iran.” The defense secretary also noted in his statement that he has repeatedly reminded Israel not to murder civilians.

“Over the past year, I have often discussed with Israel’s leaders how protecting Palestinian civilians in Gaza is both a moral responsibility and a strategic imperative,” he stated. “We mourn the death of every Palestinian civilian killed in the West Bank and Gaza during this awful conflict, and we grieve for the deaths of the American citizens Tawfiq Ajaq, Mohammad Khdour and Aysenur Eygi.”

(The Biden administration and others refer to Judea and Samaria as the “West Bank.”)

Austin added that there is a need for “a path toward two states, living side by side in mutual security, as part of a broader, brighter future of Arab-Israeli normalization that includes Israel’s integration into the region.”

David May, research manager and a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS that there were “powerful messages of sympathy and support contained within the various statements issued by the administration.”

“But the focus on achieving a ceasefire—rather than the complete defeat of Hamas and other Iranian proxies—misses the mark,” he said. “The past year has been difficult for Israelis and Palestinians alike, but if Israel does not eliminate the genocidal Hamas terrorist group, more Oct. 7’s and more devastating wars are sure to come.”

“A ceasefire puts a band-aid on a deep gash and may feel good in the moment, but it ultimately guarantees more pain in the future for both sides,” May told JNS.