In a phone call with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7 that left 1,200 people dead and 251 taken hostage into the Gaza Strip—101 who still remain there—U.S. President Joe Biden offered condolences to the Jewish state and noted the suffering of the Palestinian people during the ensuing war.
The last time that the president is known to have spoken with his counterpart, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is Aug. 21, according to a White House readout. Biden spoke with Netanyahu another time in August, and multiple times—including an in-person meeting—in July, per White House readouts.
The White House readout of Monday’s call mentions that Biden “expressed deep sadness for the loss of innocent life in Gaza and the ongoing suffering of Palestinian civilians as a result of the war that Hamas unleashed.” A readout from Herzog’s office does not mention that discussion.
Herzog’s office noted that Biden “began by saying that his thoughts were always with the families of the hostages, the murdered and the injured from the Hamas attack on that dark day.”
Biden “also praised President Herzog for visiting various communities in the western Negev to personally comfort the residents and asked him to extend his own words of comfort as well,” the Israeli president’s office stated. “President Biden further noted that the atrocities committed by Hamas served as a reminder of the significant threat posed by Iran and its proxies in the region. He emphasized his deep love for Israel and his own support for Zionism.”
The White House stated that Biden spoke with Herzog “on the solemn occasion of the one-year anniversary of the horrific Hamas Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.”
“President Biden expressed his deepest condolences to the people of Israel and to the families of the 1,200 innocent people—including 46 Americans—massacred by the terrorist group Hamas on a day of unspeakable brutality,” per the U.S. readout. “He stressed that the United States will never give up until we bring all of the remaining hostages home safely.”
It added that Biden told Herzog that he is committed “to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel and its right to exist, and reaffirmed his support for Israel’s right to defend itself against attacks from Iran and all Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.”