Biden admits that there are US citizens hostage to Hamas and mentions 11 dead

Biden announced, on the other hand, in a statement, that at least 11 US citizens died during the Hamas attack, news that he considered “heartbreaking”.

However, a Pentagon leader, at the same time as the State Department reported on the number of American deaths in this crisis, proposed that Congress quickly approve funding to allow the supply of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine and Israel.

Christine Wormuth, who heads the US Army, said that “the objective is to move forward with support for Israel”, but, she added, “in particular with ammunition, and the ability to support Israel and Ukraine simultaneously”.

It argued that “additional financing is needed to increase the capacity to expand production and also pay for munitions.”

It is clear that the Biden administration is facing competing requests from Israel and Ukraine for additional weapons.

And although there is strong bipartisan support in Congress for aid to Israel, the next steps are uncertain, given that the House of Representatives is without a president and the Senate will only return to work next week.

It remains to be seen whether the debate over more assistance for Ukraine, which a group of far-right Republicans disagree with, could complicate efforts to approve assistance for Israel.

Wormuth, speaking at the Association of the US Army’s annual conference in Washington, said the government was still “in the early stages of evaluating the capability [dos EUA] to support” the Israeli military.

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