Washington, Oct 12 In a clarification, a White House official has confirmed that US President Joe Biden has not seen pictures of "terrorists beheading children" in Israel, backtracking from the latter's comments that he saw such images.
While addressing a roundtable of Jewish community leaders on Wednesday afternoon, the President had said: “It matters that Americans see what's happening -- I mean, I have been doing this a long time, I never really thought that I would see, have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children.”
But the White House official told the BBC that "he was referring to the reports from Israel".
Another administration official told CNN later that neither Biden nor the administration have seen pictures or confirmed reports of children or infants beheaded by the Hamas.
Biden's remarks came after a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier on Wednesday that babies and toddlers were found “decapitated” in Israeli kibbutz Kfar Aza.
The claim has not been officially verified.
In a statement to CNN, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that women, children, toddlers and elderly were “brutally butchered in an ISIS way of action”.
But the Hamas has denied that its militants beheaded children or attacked women.
The militant group’s spokesman and senior official Izzat al-Risheq on Wednesday described the accusation as “fabricated and baseless allegations”.
Meanwhile, the toll from Israel after the brutal Hamas cross border attack on Cctober 7 currently stood at 1,200, while in Gaza at least 1,000 people have been killed in retaliatory air strikes.
--IANS
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