Hamas terrorists in Israel claimed the lives of NINE Americans, confirms State Department

Nine Americans have been killed in Israel in Hamas’ massive terrorist attack, the State Department said Monday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the US is working “overtime” to confirm reports that Americans were killed in the horrific attack by Palestinian terrorists.

“At this time, we can confirm the deaths of nine American citizens,” a National Security Council spokesperson said Monday morning. “We express our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected, and wish the injured a speedy recovery.”

On Sunday morning it was revealed that 600 Israelis have been killed after just one day of conflict – and more than 2,000 have been injured. This does not include those still held hostage in Gaza, the number of which is unknown.

The death toll is by far the largest mass murder of Jewish people in a single day since World War II.

“Is there any indication that Americans have been murdered or kidnapped by terrorists?” CNN’s Dana Bash asked Blinken on Sunday.

“Yes, we have reports that several Americans have been killed. We’re working overtime to verify that,” President Joe Biden’s top State Department official responded.

He added: “At the same time, there are reports of missing Americans. And here too we are working to verify those reports.’

Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Herzog told CBS News during a Sunday interview that American citizens are among those taken hostage by Hamas.

Hamas launched a surprise multi-front attack on Israel on Saturday – the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, in which a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria attacked Israel.

Speaking to CBS Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan on Sunday, Blinken said it was possible that Americans could be among those held hostage in the Gaza Strip.

“We can’t confirm that at this time,” he said, “but we are working very actively to see if we can confirm the reports.”

He then told NBC Meet the Press host Kristen Welker in a separate interview on Sunday: “Any American anywhere who is detained … will be a priority.”

Blinken previewed the announcement in his State of the Union interview on Sunday that an announcement on additional aid to Israel could come later in the day.

“Our first focus is to make sure Israel gets what it needs,” Blinken told CNN host Bash. “We are looking at additional requests that the Israelis have made.”

He looked ahead, “I think you’ll probably hear more about that later today.”

Israel is raining fire on fighters in the Gaza Strip in a brutal counter-offensive in the south, while also shelling Lebanon with artillery in the north.

Speaking to ABC News This Week host George Stephanopoulos, Blinken acknowledged: “This is the worst attack on Israel since 1973, the Yom Kippur War.”

“But there is a fundamental difference: it was a war from state to state, from country to country, from army to army,” the foreign minister said. “This is a massive terrorist attack that is shooting down Israeli civilians in their cities and in their homes and, as we have so graphically seen, literally dragging people across the border into Gaza, including a Holocaust survivor in a wheelchair, women and children. ‘

“So you can imagine the impact this is having across Israel, and the world should rise up against what it sees,” he added.