By Jason Cohen
The Biden administration’s U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs published and then deleted a post telling Israel not to retaliate after a massive attack by Islamist group Hamas at daybreak on Saturday, according to multiple reports.
Hamas launched 5,000 rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip in a surprise attack, followed by dozens of gunmen who entered the country and kidnapped and killed many Israeli civilians, according to the Associated Press. The U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs posted a message to X — formerly Twitter — calling for “all sides to refrain” from violent retaliation before deleting it. (RELATED: Fact Checking Videos, Images And Posts From October Hamas Attack On Israel)
”We urge all sides to refrain from violence and retaliatory attacks. Terror and violence solve nothing.” the deleted post stated.
“This tweet was not approved and does not represent U.S. policy,” State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller later told the Daily Caller News Foundation. However, the U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs did not confirm or deny whether they made the post and deleted it, instead pointing the DCNF to later posts by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the White House National Security Council spokesperson. The office later followed up, echoing what the State Department told the DCNF.
Deleted, but the internet is forever. https://t.co/Y8uYJC0t3d pic.twitter.com/jzPOHIyXED
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) October 7, 2023
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war in response to Hamas’ attack, pledging historic retaliation.
“The enemy will pay an unprecedented price,” Netanyahu stated, according to AP. He also said that Israel will “return fire of a magnitude that the enemy has not known.”
Biden established the U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs in Jerusalem in June 2022 and it is under the State Department.
The Associated Press reported that
In an assault of startling breadth, Hamas gunmen rolled into as many as 22 locations outside the Gaza Strip, including towns and other communities as far as 15 miles from the Gaza border. In some places, they roamed for hours, gunning down civilians and soldiers as Israel’s military scrambled to muster a response. Gunbattles continued well after nightfall, and militants held hostages in standoffs in two towns.
Israel’s national rescue service said at least 200 people were killed and 1,100 wounded, making it the deadliest attack in Israel in decades.
The White House did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
