No drills in Israel: Activist recalls harrowing experience of being in area during Hamas attacks
Lizzy Savetsky, an Israel activist from the U.S., tells Dana Perino about her experience being in Israel during the surprise Hamas attack that provoked war in the Middle East.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, condemned the Hamas attacks on Israel as "the largest mass murder of Jews on any day since the Holocaust" and slammed the Biden administration's response in scathing remarks Monday.
The Texas Republican, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said "ambiguity" from the administration "badly undermines" Israel's campaign against Hamas terrorists, further endangering the safety and security of both Israelis and Americans.
"On Saturday the world witnessed the largest mass murder of Jews on any day since the Holocaust," Cruz said in a statement.
"Iran-controlled Hamas terrorists used Nazi tactics in pursuit of Nazi ends: house-to-house murders of entire families, systematic rape and torture, murdering babies in front of their parents or killing parents and kidnapping babies, mass kidnappings, marching victims through streets for mob humiliation, and countless other atrocities."
Cruz added that thousands of Israelis and a still-unknown number of citizens from other countries are dead, wounded or kidnapped, with reportedly dozens of Americans among them.
NETANYAHU TELLS BIDEN 'WE HAVE TO GO IN' TO GAZA FOLLOWING HAMAS ATTACKS: REPORT
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, attends a Senate Judiciary Committee markup in the Hart Building in Washington, D.C., on May 11, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
"Our Israeli allies announced overnight that they are shifting from retaking their territory to an offensive. The United States must ensure that Israel has all the weapons and all the time that it needs to utterly eradicate Hamas, and we must be unambiguous about that commitment," Cruz went on to say.
"Instead, this weekend the State Department repeatedly posted statements and summaries calling for premature ceasefires and for Israel to stand down, while other times Biden administration officials said they were not pressuring Israel."
LIVE UPDATES: AT LEAST 800 ISRAELIS DEAD IN HAMAS ATTACKS
Israeli forces establish heavily armed control points along the border as Israel tightens measures by the army, police and other security forces after Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in Sderot, Israel, on Sunday. (Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
"This ambiguity badly undermines our ally’s campaign against the Iran-controlled terrorists in the Gaza Strip, endangering the safety and security of Israelis and Americans," he said.
The State Department said at least nine Americans have been killed by Hamas' strikes on Israel, Fox News has confirmed.
Israeli media also is reporting that at least 800 Israelis have died since Saturday, when the group first began launching terrorist attacks on the country.
The White House has confirmed at least 11 American citizens were killed in the carnage.
ISRAEL HIT WITH ‘HUGE ROCKET BARRAGE’ AS WARNING SIRENS BLARE ACROSS COUNTRY
Rockets are seen launched into Israel from the Gaza Strip. (Photos Majdi Fathi/TPS)
The administration has yet to release the names of those Americans, and it has acknowledged the possibility that there are more U.S. citizens being held hostage in Gaza.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Biden spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier Monday. The president's Israeli counterpart warned that a ground invasion of Gaza may be imminent.
Fox News Digital's Greg Norman and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
