Several Americans may be among the dead and hostages taken by the Hamas group after its biggest ever attack on Israel, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a TV news show.
“We’ve seen reports about hostages. We’re very actively trying to verify them. Any American anywhere who is being detained is going to be a priority,” Blinken said in NBC News’ ‘Meet the Press’ show.
Blinken also told ABC News that Hamas has grown stronger with Iran’s support in recent years, but there is no direct evidence of Iran’s involvement in the specific Hamas attack on Israel.
“There’s a long relationship between Iran and Hamas. In fact, Hamas wouldn’t be Hamas without the support that it’s got over many years from Iran. We haven’t yet seen direct evidence that Iran was behind this particular attack is involved, but the – the support over many years is clear,” he said.
“It’s one of the reasons that over the last couple of years, we have been resolutely working against Iran’s support for terrorism, for destabilizing actions in other countries. We’ve sanctioned more than 400 Iranian individuals and entities precisely for the kind of support that they’ve offered Hamas in the past. And it’s something that we remain extremely vigilant about,” he added.
