By Alexander Ward and Matt Berg

President Joe Biden (left) leaves with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Vice President Kamala Harris after speaking about the war between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 10, 2023, in the White House. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo

With help from Nahal Toosi, Lara Seligman and Daniel Lippman

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President JOE BIDEN confirmed that 14 Americans were killed during Hamas’ vicious attack on Israel and that there are U.S. citizens among the hostages held by Gaza’s rulers.

The news, coming during the president’s address on the crisis today, adds fuel to the United States’ staunch support of Israel as it bombed and besieged Gaza in retaliation.

“The brutality of Hamas, its bloodthirstiness, brings to mind the worst rampages of ISIS. This is terrorism,” Biden said at the White House, noting that more than 1,000 Israelis have been “slaughtered,” adding to the nearly 800 killed in Gaza. “We stand with Israel and we will make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of its citizens, defend itself and respond to this attack.”

Biden has spoken three times with Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU to coordinate the response. The American leader said his administration would help by sending ammunition and interceptors to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome system.

Earlier in the day, officials in Washington urged Jerusalem to retaliate in a “proportionate” manner, Alex reported, but they wouldn’t say if there were any lines Israel shouldn’t cross.

“We remain focused on holding the terrorists accountable for their attacks, and we support Israel taking necessary and proportionate action to defend its country and protect its people, and in doing so U.S. citizens living, working and traveling in Israel,” NSC spokesperson ADRIENNE WATSON told NatSec Daily.

Israel is responding to the worst attack it has faced in 50 years, leading Netanyahu’s government to declare war on Hamas, which is in charge of Gaza and its 2 million inhabitants. This is not a round or flare-up with Hamas, the premier said, this is a campaign to significantly weaken the threat posed by Gaza’s rulers. To put what happened into perspective, the U.S. Holocaust Museum posted on X on Monday that “we just witnessed the deadliest single day for Jews since the Holocaust.”

There is a natural rhythm to these crises. Initially, the U.S. — at least in public — appears to give Israel carte blanche in its response. Over time, Washington ramps up the pressure to compel Jerusalem to agree to a ceasefire. (Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN released a statement on X calling for a ceasefire before it was deleted.) This is the playbook Biden used in 2021 during a much, much smaller skirmish between Israel and Hamas, ending the conflict in 11 days.

For now, it appears Biden isn’t putting up stop signs. Axios’ BARAK RAVID reported that Netanyahu told Biden “we have to go in” to Gaza, explaining that a ground invasion was the only way to root out Hamas. “Biden did not try to press Netanyahu or convince him not to go through with a ground operation,” per Ravid.

Furthermore, Blinken will head to Israel in the coming days, the State Department announced today, in a clear show of support for the country.

The administration doesn’t want civilians in Gaza to suffer for Hamas’ alleged war crimes, even though the Israel Defense Forces already noted some will unfortunately die, largely because Hamas has offices in buildings near homes, schools and businesses.

The Wall Street Journal’s VIVIAN SALAMA pressed the NSC’s JOHN KIRBY about this Monday night, asking “whether or not there has been any warning at any levels of the U.S. government against the targeting of civilians in Gaza.”

His response noted that Israel was counterattacking “aggressively, and given the size and scale and the scope of the violence, we understand where that’s coming from.” But, Kirby continued, Israel as a democracy shares values with Washington “when it comes to [the] law of war and respect for life.”

In other words, no, there hasn’t been a warning, but there is trust within the administration that Israel will do what it can to protect noncombatant Gazans. Meanwhile, Israel has called up around 300,000 reservists to help with the campaign against Hamas — a campaign Netanyahu is talking about in severe terms.

“We have only started striking Hamas,” he said on Monday. “What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.”

Read: Israel and the West reckon with a high-tech failure by our own DANIELLA CHESLOW.

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PUTIN’S PERFECT STORM: The brutal attack in Israel and its aftermath was probably a welcome surprise for Moscow, as it hopes to divert Western support and attention away from Ukraine, our own JAMIE DETTMER and CHRISTIAN OLIVER report.

The big question is how much credit to give the Kremlin for the perfect storm of mounting crises — in Israel, Kosovo, the Caucasus and Africa — that are rearing up on America and Europe. For many, it’s tempting to see Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN as a mastermind or puppetmaster, stirring up more conflicts than the West can cope with.

“This was probably the best birthday gift for Putin. The attack against Israel will divide attention, given the natural U.S. focus on Israel,” an EU diplomat told Jamie and Christian, noting that the Saturday attacks came on the Kremlin head’s 71st birthday.

Despite his close ties with Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu, Putin has yet to condemn Hamas’ attack, though a Kremlin spokesperson said on Monday that Russia is “extremely concerned” and called for an end to the fighting.

As Israel and Hamas have traded blows, Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY repeatedly underscored his support for Israel on social media and claimed that Kyiv has data showing Moscow “is interested in inciting war in the Middle East.” Ukrainian officials today suggested the Kremlin and Hamas coordinated their attacks over the weekend.

“Hamas' attack on Israel was synchronized with massive attacks by Russian troops ... Russia relied on diverting attention from Ukraine,” according to a document sent to Ukrainian government officials by Kyiv’s Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, obtained by NatSec Daily.

Read: Israel’s ambassador in Brussels calls on EU allies to help contain war by our own EDDY WAX and NICHOLAS VINOCUR.

TEHRAN’S DENIAL: Iranian Ayatollah ALI KHAMENEI denied accusations today that Tehran helped Hamas strike Israel, instead applauding the militant group and blaming Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip in past years for the recent violence.

"We kiss the hands of those who planned the attack on the Zionist regime," Khamenei said on television, per Reuters’ ELWELY ELWELLY and PARISA HAFEZI. “The Zionist regime's own actions are to blame for this disaster.”

Khamenei’s denial so far aligns with Israeli and U.S. officials’ public statements that there’s no evidence Iran was directly linked to the weekend offensive, though the officials noted Tehran has helped the group militarily in the past.

Still, Biden is facing mounting Republican pressure to take action against Iran in the wake of the latest violence in the Middle East, even as U.S. officials say they don’t have a smoking gun proving that Tehran played a direct role, Matt and NAHAL TOOSI report.

More than a dozen GOP senators are leading the charge, calling on the Biden administration to refreeze the $6 billion in funds released to Tehran in a prisoner exchange deal last month. The administration also faces calls to impose new sanctions on Iran or even take military action against Iranian targets.

NIGER LABELED A COUP: The State Department finally decided to recognize the coup that happened in Niger just over two months ago as a coup.

“The United States has concluded that a military coup d’etat has taken place in Niger,” State Department spokesperson MATTHEW MILLER said in a statement today.

The Biden administration was unwilling to do so previously, knowing that it could trigger an end to U.S. security aid to a country that’s key to battling terrorism and curbing Russian influence in Africa, Nahal and LARA SELIGMAN reported in July. In today’s statement, Miller said humanitarian, food and health assistance from the U.S. will continue. Two DOD officials also told Lara the U.S. will keep its force presence in Niger despite the coup designation — some 1,000 forces split between Niamey and Agadez drone base.

FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — UKRAINE VISIT: The McCain Institute organized a delegation visit to Ukraine, NatSec Daily learned, stopping in Kyiv and Lviv to meet with senior officials like the prime minister and U.S. ambassador to the country. EVELYN FARKAS, the institute’s executive director, led the group, which featured members of the Ukraine Business Alliance, including Palantir Technologies, Microsoft, Skydio and Fortem Technologies.

Farkas, speaking about the weeklong trip, said: “If Sen. JOHN McCAIN were here today, he would be a constant presence in Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine, urging the U.S. government and business community to continue their supporting efforts and letting the Ukrainians know that America stands with them.”

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ALL FOR ISRAEL: Each GOP presidential candidate has used Hamas’ attack on Israel to bash the Biden administration — or each other — and underscore their support for Jerusalem should they be elected.

MIKE PENCE, CHRIS CHRISTIE, TIM SCOTT, DOUG BURGUM and ASA HUTCHINSON each took aim at the White House’s $6 billion prisoner exchange deal with Iran last month, arguing that Tehran then helped Hamas with the attack — a claim administration officials have repeatedly rebuffed.

“This is what happens when @POTUS projects weakness on the world stage, kowtows to the mullahs in Iran with a $6 Billion ransom, and leaders in the Republican Party signal American retreat as Leader of the Free World. Weakness arouses Evil,” Pence tweeted over the weekend.

VIVEK RAMASWAMY criticized NIKKI HALEY for her comment calling for Israel to “finish” Hamas: “Rabidly shouting ‘FINISH THEM!!!’ isn’t a coherent solution to a complex problem. This is the real world, not a video game. @NikkiHaley has foreign policy ‘experience’ & it shows.”

RON DeSANTIS struck a similar tone as Haley, telling MSNBC today that “you have to uproot the terrorist infrastructure, these networks, and Hamas needs to be no more.”

Today, DONALD TRUMP made his case for why he should be put back in office.

“I KEPT ISRAEL SAFE! NOBODY ELSE WILL, NOBODY ELSE CAN, AND I KNOW ALL OF THE PLAYERS!!!” he wrote on Truth Social.

VERY HANOI-ING: Vietnam tried to place spyware on the phones of lawmakers, reporters and experts using posts on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, the Washington Post reports.

The targeted members of Congress were Rep. MICHAEL McCAUL (R-Texas), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sen. CHRIS MURPHY (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And CNN’S JIM SCIUTTO was also a victim of the hacking campaign, according to the report.

The hack attempt happened as the United States and Vietnam were negotiating a formal boost in their relationship, an agreement Biden officially signed during a visit to Hanoi in September.

Vietnam tried to install the Predator software, which, per the Post, “is a powerful and hard-to-detect surveillance program that can turn on the microphones and cameras of Apple iPhones and devices running on Google’s Android software, retrieve all files and read private messages, even when they are end-to-end encrypted.”

The Vietnam government declined to comment to the Post.

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PENTAGON STEPS IN: The Defense Department took decisive action to help its staunchest ally in the Middle East defend itself, rapidly sending military assistance to help Israel strike back against Hamas.

“Planes have already taken off,” a senior Pentagon official told reporters on Monday, referring to F-35 and F-15 fighter jets, as our own CONNOR O’BRIEN, JOE GOULD, PAUL McLEARY and Lara reported.

The Pentagon is working across its enterprise, including U.S. Central Command, to determine which arms in U.S. inventory can be made quickly available for Israel’s defense, as well as pressing industry to expedite the delivery of pending Israeli orders for military equipment, the official said. DOD officials are in “constant, ongoing contact” with their Israeli counterparts as the needs of the conflict evolve.

The Pentagon is using existing authorities and funds to make the moves, and does not yet need to ask Congress for additional aid, the official added.

As Washington aids Israel, however, lawmakers are grappling with how to continue the flow of military assistance to Ukraine without a speaker in the House and a looming government shutdown, Paul and Connor also reported.

“One thing that is really important in terms of the munitions in particular, and our ability to support both potentially the Israelis and the Ukrainians simultaneously, is additional funding from Congress to be able to increase our capacity,” Army Secretary CHRISTINE WORMUTH told reporters on Monday.

BROWN TO BRUSSELS: Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. BROWN embarked Monday on his first trip in the new role, according to his spokesperson. He’s headed to Brussels first to meet with NATO leadership, and next to participate in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group alongside Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN.

CONGRESS CLAPBACK: You can imagine that Congress spent a lot of the past few days focused on Israel’s response to Hamas’ terrorist attack. So below is a brief rundown of the main bits you need to know.

— KEVIN McCARTHY, the ousted speaker of the House, released a five-point plan to support Israel, coming shortly after he refused to rule out a bid to return to the speakership. Point 1: “Rescue all American hostages.” It’s similar to Senate Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL’s four-step plan, though the Kentuckian spent more time focused on giving Israel time to respond and weapons and intelligence with which to target Gaza.

— There’s already a congressional tussle over whether to tie Ukraine and Israel military funding together. While some Democrats and Republicans in both chambers like the idea, a group of House Republicans are resistant, CNN reports. “Absolutely not,” said Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.). “They shouldn’t be tied together. I will not vote to fund Ukraine.” Rep. JIM JORDAN (R-Ohio), who’s running for the speakership, said he would put forward a motion to support Israel but hasn’t committed to pushing for aid for either country.

— Sen. MARCO RUBIO (R-Fla.) is calling for Israel to “seek the eradication of Hamas from Gaza,” per his post on X yesterday. "There simply is no diplomatic solution or ‘measured response’ available. This tragically necessary effort will come at a horrifying price. But the price of failing to permanently eliminate this group of sadistic savages is even more horrifying."

— Reps. McCaul and GREGORY MEEKS (D-N.Y.), HFAC’s top two members, introduced a resolution today to show that the United States “stands with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists.”

— Acting speaker PATRICK McHENRY (R-N.C.) left the door open to the House voting on Israel aid even before a permanent speaker was named. "If we need to act as a government, we will,” he told our own ANTHONY ADRAGNA.

SCHUMER MET XI: A six-member Senate delegation led by Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER met with Chinese paramount leader XI JINPING over the weekend, leading to a conversation where both parties expressed a hope for improved ties between the U.S. and China.

Xi said both countries had "the most important bilateral relations in the world,” while Schumer said the U.S. seeks neither conflict with, nor decoupling from, Beijing. However, the New York lawmaker blasted China for backing Moscow. "When they align themselves with Russia, an outlawed nation like Russia, they are not helping their own cause," he said.

EX-INTEL CHIEF BLAMES ISRAEL: Israel’s former top domestic intelligence official AMI AYALON said Netanyahu’s government bears “a large part of the responsibility” for the deadly offensive that killed hundreds of Israelis over the weekend.

Hamas “perceived a moment of great division around the crisis caused in the country by the justice reform. Of course, politicians did not listen,” Ayalon, former head of the Shin Bet agency, told France’s Le Figaro newspaper.

The remark comes a day after an Egyptian intelligence official told The Associated Press’ TIA GOLDENBERG that Jerusalem’s top officials had repeatedly ignored warnings that Hamas was about to do “something big.”

“We have warned them an explosion of the situation is coming, and very soon, and it would be big. But they underestimated such warnings,” the official said.

— JONATHAN RING has been promoted to be the White House’s deputy assistant national cyber director for technology security.

— ANDREW DOLAN has been promoted to be senior policy analyst in the Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans at the Department of Homeland Security.

— Navy Capt. JEREAL DORSEY has been tapped to take over as the spokesperson for new Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. BROWN. He will relieve Col. DAVE BUTLER, who served as spokesperson for Gen. MARK MILLEY, Brown’s predecessor.

— STEVEN COOK, Foreign Policy: The Hamas attack has changed everything

— BENJAMIN WITTES, Lawfare: Initial thoughts on Hamas’ war

— SUSAN GLASSER, The New Yorker: Jake Sullivan’s trial by combat

— Washington Post Live, 9 a.m.: The impact of artificial intelligence on American industry, jobs and technological competitiveness

— The Association of the U.S. Army, 9:30 a.m.: Annual meeting and exposition with Army Secretary CHRISTINE WORMUTH, Army Chief of Staff Gen. RANDY GEORGE and Gen. CHARLES HAMILTON, commanding general of U.S. Army Materiel Command

— The Wilson Center's Global Europe Program, 10:30 a.m.: Book discussion on "The arms of the future: technology and close combat in the twenty-first century"

Thanks to our editor, Emma Anderson, who crosses all of our red lines daily.

We also thank our producer, Gregory Svirnovskiy, who never criticizes us in public.

A message from Lockheed Martin:

Delivering Multi-Domain Deterrence.

Fast-moving threats require agile deterrence with multi-domain enabled platforms. Lockheed Martin’s combat-proven systems work together to protect critical assets against evolving threats.

We're accelerating production of combat-proven capabilities like HIMARS and PAC-3 MSE to support our customers’ national security missions. Learn more.

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