US President Joe Biden calls Hamas actions 'pure unadulterated evil' in defence of Israel

President Biden was 'sickened' by the violence and torture inflicted on Israel's civilians, ITV News US Correspondent Dan Rivers reports on the impact of the war on the United States

US President Joe Biden’s address on the unfolding tragedy in Israel and Gaza was chilling. He described the massacre of Israelis at the hands of Hamas terrorists as "pure unadulterated evil".

Detailing how parents had been butchered in front of their children, "stomach-churning" reports of babies being killed, women raped, assaulted and paraded as trophies, he captured the horror of last weekend’s attacks.

President Biden said "the brutality of Hamas, its bloodthirstiness, brings to the mind the worst rampages of ISIS."

There was also new detail. He confirmed 14 Americans are now known to have been killed and what the National Security Council feared last night: Americans are among the hostages held by Hamas.

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After the president’s address, the National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said 20 or more Americans are still missing. Not all are necessarily held hostage, but the US government knows some are.

This suggests proof has been obtained that missing Americans are still alive inside Gaza.

We don’t know how many hostages are being held but this presents the awful possibility that they may be executed as Hamas has threatened to do so if the Israeli strikes in Gaza continue.

Joe Biden emphasised that the US and Israel uphold the law of war. He appeared to give a green light for a continued Israeli operation which may include a ground incursion.

"The loss of innocent life is heartbreaking," he said.

"Like every nation in the world, Israel has a right to respond, indeed it has a duty to respond."

If the United States had been attacked, he said, its response would also be "swift, decisive and overwhelming."

President Biden spoke to Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a third time just before facing the cameras. The compassion with which he spoke suggests he was moved by what he heard.

His support for Israel remains steadfast, underscored by the barbarity of the attack.