Mike Brest is a defense reporter at the Washington Examiner. Prior to joining the defense beat, he spent two years covering breaking news for the Examiner, and he worked at the Daily Caller in a similar capacity before that. Mike graduated from American University and is originally from the suburbs of Philadelphia.
Biden administration officials have repeatedly said they do not support a total ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, even as the humanitarian situation for Palestinian civilians deteriorates.
Ghazi Hamad, a member of the Hamas political bureau, said in an interview that was translated by Memri that"the Al-Aqsa Flood," which is what Hamas called the Oct. 7 attacks,"is just the first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth, because we have the determination, the resolve, and the capabilities to fight."
Israel has launched a significant military operation in Gaza, and the first phase included thousands of airstrikes, many of which were in areas with a densely populated civilian population. U.S. officials estimated that thousands of civilians have been killed since Israel responded to the Oct. 7 attacks.