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US President Joe Biden has said Israel has a right and a duty to respond to Hamas’ attacks over the weekend, which he called an “act of sheer evil”.
In forceful remarks, he said the US would “stand with Israel” and provide whatever assistance it needed.
Mr Biden said at least 14 Americans had been killed in the attacks and other US citizens had been taken hostage.
In a later briefing on Tuesday, a national security spokesman said at least 20 Americans were missing.
It is not clear how many of those have been taken captive by Hamas, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said.
Militants from the group, which is designated a terrorist organisation by the US, breached the border fence in the Gaza Strip in several places on Saturday and launched the most serious cross-border attack Israel has faced in a generation.
Some 1,200 people have been killed in Israel since Saturday. More than 950 people have died in retaliatory Israeli air strikes on Gaza.
Standing alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the White House, Mr Biden said there was no justification for the “rampages” by Hamas militants.
“There are moments in this life, and I mean this literally, when the pure unadulterated evil is unleashed on this world,” Mr Biden said. “The people of Israel lived through one such moment this weekend.”
He condemned what he called “stomach turning” reports of “parents butchered” and “entire families slain”.
Credit: By Bernd Debusmann Jr
BBC News, Washington
