CNN: US seeking to verify reports US citizens among the dead and missing.

Blinken says US working to verify reports of several Americans dead in Israel

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/08/politics/blinken-israel-war-cnntv
Antony Blinken.
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images/File
Washington
CNN
—
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday the US is “working overtime” to verify reports of missing and dead Americans overseas after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack against Israel.

“We have reports that several Americans were killed. We’re working overtime to verify that. At the same time, there are reports of missing Americans and there again, we’re working to verify those reports,” Blinken told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”

I'm not sure the President can say this any more clearly:

Axios: Biden administration is worried GOP chaos will hamper planned aid to Israel

The Biden administration is planning to announce military aid for Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza but is concerned that the chaos among House Republicans could hamper approval of more aid, a senior U.S. official told reporters Saturday.

Why it matters: Israel is expected to go on a massive counter-offensive in Gaza that could take several weeks and likely will need additional U.S. military assistance — especially if the war expands to other arenas, such as Lebanon.

Driving the news: Biden administration officials began speaking to their Israeli counterparts Saturday morning about possible U.S. military assistance, the U.S. official told reporters. An announcement on aid could come as soon as Sunday.

The issue came up during calls between Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, and between Gen. Erik Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command and Israel's military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi

https://www.axios.com/2023/10/08/biden-team-worried-house-chaos-impact-israel-aid-gaza-hamas

About that 6 billion dollars given to Iran

Good interview on today's events with former US peace negotiator Dennis Ross

No American diplomat is more familiar with the long history of enmity between Israelis and Palestinians than Dennis Ross, who played a leading role in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process in both the George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations. As special envoy, Ross was one of Washington’s key Middle East negotiators in the Oslo peace process, beginning with the historic agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1993 and 1995. Ross also served as director of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff in the first Bush administration, and later as special assistant to President Barack Obama and special advisor on Iran to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

On Saturday, just hours after the Islamist militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel unprecedented in its scope, POLITICO Magazine reached out to Ross to help explain how and why the conflict began — and how it might ultimately be resolved.


https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/10/07/israel-hamas-attack-00120498

The Brandenburg Gate tonight.

Statement of President Zelenskyy on today's events in the Mideast:

Watching the videos coming out of Israel today and reading

Descriptions of kidnapped, raped and murdered hostages, I think it fair to say that the two state solution died today.
Israel can not tolerate this terrorism anymore than the US could after 9/11.
What's next? The occupation of Gaza? Maybe dealing with the Hamas masters in Iran somehow?

I'm pretty sure this is an existential moment for Israel.

Patron on terrorism.

I had no idea that this stuff in Gaza was so serious.

Until I saw this tweet from the WSJ reporter who normally covers Ukraine:

https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1710648997977985205
https://twitter.com/vcdgf555/status/1710566731465609216?t=LA3g6tr4rYpB0H_3T8NrZQ&s=19
https://twitter.com/vcdgf555/status/1710635694173893037?t=6Og7QKd5hsly87Vgd_-LEQ&s=19
https://twitter.com/vcdgf555/status/1710655303744668090?t=l3XN1-SVz5dTg7ms0-pGtA&s=19
https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/1710670563302093007?t=kIhIHF_MCqQK9zXGVSfY4A&s=19
https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1710670030575169724?t=wDa3tbfOzZbB3uE3vgNz9g&s=19
https://twitter.com/ELINTNews/status/1710667653650452490?t=2O6CSTJSHJbswHLrL_fl6g&s=19

Holy shit!