WASHINGTON—More than 100 Israelis were killed as Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented, multifront attack on Israel at daybreak Saturday, firing over 2,500 rockets as dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land, and sea and catching the country off-guard on the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War.

Heritage Foundation national security experts Victoria Coates and Robert Greenway made the following statement:

“We condemn the unprecedented and unprovoked terrorist attack on Israel coordinated by the Islamic Republic of Iran through its proxy Hamas. Absent significant training, equipment, and intelligence capabilities supplied by Iran, Hamas would never have been able to have carried out such an operation.

 

“America must stand united with our great ally Israel. The first priority is to make sure Israel has everything it needs to neutralize the terrorists and rescue the Israeli civilians who have been taken hostage.

 

“The Biden administration has to answer for its policy of appeasing Tehran and granting the regime unprecedented revenues through ransom and illicit oil sales—money that is flowing directly to terror attacks on Israel.”

Coates is vice president of the Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy and Greenway is director of the Center for National Defense at Heritage.