The terror attacks carried out in Israel last week took the "evil" perpetrated by the Islamic State and raised it "to another level," Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Friday, flanked by his Israeli counterpart.
Austin, who led U.S. and coalition efforts to battle ISIS in Iraq and Syria prior to retiring from military service, traveled to Israel on Friday in a show of support for the U.S.'s Middle Eastern ally after spending time this week in Brussels, Belgium, meeting with his NATO counterparts.
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"I will tell you that in countering ISIS, I felt as if we were staring evil in the eye. It was truly evil. In what we've seen from Hamas, it takes that evil to another level, and so that's the first thing that we need to remember and consider," the secretary said, standing beside Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv.
Over the weekend, Hamas and other terror organizations based in Gaza conducted a joint, multifaceted, and unprecedented assault across southern Israel. Some terrorists paraglided into Israeli territory, while others were able to break through the border wall. They proceeded to target civilian populated areas, including the communities near the border and a large outdoor concert venue. To date, the death toll exceeds 1,300 people, the vast majority of whom were civilians. The Israeli Defense Forces has recovered the bodies of more than 1,500 terrorists within Israel territory, local officials said.
"As a former commander of Central Command, the deliberate cruelty of Hamas vividly reminds me of ISIS," he added. "Bloodthirsty, fanatical, and hateful, and like ISIS, Hamas has nothing to offer [but] zealotry, bigotry, and death. The world has just witnessed a great evil, the deadliest attacks on civilians in the history of the state of Israel, and the bloodiest day in Jewish history since the end of the Holocaust."
In some of the most brutal scenes, civilians were executed, burned alive, women were raped, and babies were among the dead. There were instances of the terrorists killing civilians who were hiding in the bomb shelters that had been responsible for keeping them safe during the aerial attacks that are common in southern Israel, specifically near Gaza.
Israel has since declared war against Hamas and has begun a military operation against the Gaza Strip. Despite attempts to limit civilian casualties, the death toll in Gaza has skyrocketed in recent days as the airstrikes intensify. The death toll in Gaza is now nearly 1,800, according to the Gazan Health Ministry, while the strikes have displaced roughly 423,000 people, according to the United Nations.
The IDF gave residents 24 hours to evacuate from northern Gaza and go south on Thursday, prompting speculation that a ground invasion could be imminent, while Hamas has urged residents to stay in the north, putting them in harm's way.
National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said on CNN that Israel is trying to "separate Hamas from the human shields," referencing civilians, and that the terror group is urging civilians to ignore the order because "having human shields, they think, protects them."
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“We are asking all the civilians in Gaza City to go south in Gaza," Gallant said, "and the reason is that because we don’t want to harm them. The camouflage of the terrorists is the civilian population. Therefore, we need to separate them. So, those who want to save their lives, please go south. We are going to destroy Hamas infrastructures, Hamas headquarters, [and] Hamas military establishment.”
Despite Israel's response and the U.S. support, Austin warned, "This is a time for resolve and not revenge, for purpose and not panic, and for security and not surrender."