Biden admin says 'no one saw' Hamas attack on Israel coming

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to NBC's Kristen Welker on Sunday morning about the war in Israel, and the attacks that came from Hamas and Hezbollah over the weekend. He said that the attack against Israel was not something anyone in the intelligence community saw coming.

"Mr. Secretary," Welker began, "do you acknowledge that both Israeli intelligence officials and US intelligence officials were caught off guard here?"

"This is an attack that I don't think anyone saw coming in the in the immediate," Blinken replied.



"So was it an intelligence failure, Mr. Secretary?" Welker asked. "Do you acknowledge it was an intelligence failure?"

"We will have plenty of time, Israelis will have plenty of time to look into that, all of us will have time to look into that," answered Blinken. "The focus now has to be on making sure that Israel has what it needs to deal with this attack. And to make sure its citizens are safe and secure."

This recent attack on Israel from Hamas has resulted in a declaration of war from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Early estimates indicate that Hamas has launched over 2,200 rockets into the nation. The attack was launched on civilians, and many of them were rounded up, kidnapped, and murdered. Families are looking for the missing.

Shortly after the attack first took place, the Biden Office of Palestinian Affairs drew criticism on Saturday after it put out and deleted a post urging Israel to not defend itself. 

"We unequivocally condemn the attack of Hamas terrorists and the loss of life that incurred. We urge all sides to refrain from violence and retaliatory attacks," the Office had written in a now-deleted post. "Terror and violence solve nothing."

On the same day, former President Donald Trump ripped into the Biden administration over the attack and suggested it shares some culpability for the violence.

"Sadly, American taxpayer dollars helped fund these attacks, which many reports are saying came from the Biden Administration," he posted on Truth Social. "We brought so much peace to the Middle East through the Abraham Accords, only to see Biden whittle it away at a far more rapid pace than anyone thought possible. Here we go again."