Congress leaders get unclassified briefing on Israel

Leaders in the House of Representatives will get an unclassified briefing on the developing situation in Israel at 8 p.m. tonight, per a source familiar. Just one hour later, Senate leaders will get their own briefing from the Biden administration, the Washington Examiner has confirmed.

Hamas launched a surprise attack early Saturday, killing 600 Israelis dead 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.

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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 an official 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.