'Have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children': Joe Biden decries Hamas atrocity; White House clarifies

US President Joe Biden called the attacks by Hamas in Israel a “campaign of pure cruelty”, and said he saw “confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children.” Speaking to the Jewish community leaders at a roundtable in the White House, Biden said, “I never really thought that I would see and have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children.” Watch:

Meanwhile, a White House spokesperson said that the US officials and President Biden haven’t seen pictures or confirmed such reports independently. The spokesperson added that the President alleged the atrocities on the claims from Netanyahu’s spokesman and media reports from Israel, reported The Washington Post. In his speech, Biden also said, “We moved the US carrier fleet to the eastern Mediterranean and we are sending more fighter jets to that region, and made it clear to the Iranians: Be careful. When terrorist groups like Hamas, brought not only a sheer evil, sheer evil to the world, evil that echoes the worst matches in some cases exceeds the worst atrocities of ISIS.” Earlier on Wednesday, the US president spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhu, marking the fourth known call between the two. Biden also assured Netanyahu that the United States is sending more military assistance to help Israel fight Hamas militants. “The United States has Israel’s back and I have yours as well - both at home and abroad,” the president said. On Tuesday, Biden confirmed that US citizens are among those who have been taken hostage by Hamas. The White House said on Wednesday that 17 Americans are unaccounted. Additionally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined with a top political rival Wednesday to create a wartime Cabinet to oversee the fight to avenge the gruesome weekend attack by Hamas militants. In the sealed-off Gaza Strip, Palestinian suffering mounted as Israeli bombardment demolished neighborhoods and the only power plant ran out of fuel. Netanyahu vowed to “crush and destroy” Hamas. “Every Hamas member is a dead man,” he said in a televised address, reported The Associated Press. Netanyahu alleged that the attackers engaged in atrocities, including binding boys and girls and shooting them in the head, burning people alive, raping women and beheading soldiers. The prime minister’s allegations could not be independently confirmed, and authorities did not immediately offer further details. Rescue workers and witnesses have described horrifying scenes, including the slaughter of elderly people and finding bloody rooms crowded with massacred civilians. Militants in Gaza are holding an estimated 150 people taken hostage from Israel — soldiers, men, women, children and older adults — and they have fired thousands of rockets into Israel over the past five days. With inputs from agencies