Washington, Oct. 7, (dpa/GNA) – US President Joe Biden has joined leaders around the world in commemorating the October 7 attacks on Israel, which saw some 1,200 people killed by Hamas and other militant groups exactly one year ago.
“On this solemn anniversary, let us bear witness to the unspeakable brutality of the October 7th attacks but also to the beauty of the lives that were stolen that day,” Biden said in a statement issued on Monday.
“The October 7th attack brought to the surface painful memories left by millennia of hatred and violence against the Jewish people,” he said.
“One year later, Vice President [Kamala] Harris and I remain fully committed to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel, and its right to exist.”
Biden also addressed the fate of Gazans, saying “history will also remember October 7th 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.”
The US president stressed that his administration continued to work for “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.”
“Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve to live in security, dignity, and peace,” he said.
GNA