The Biden administration briefed reporters on background Saturday afternoon about the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel that featured a “senior administration official” speaking on the record but not for attribution by name. The official casually tossed out that the Biden White House first became aware of the attack around 2:30 a.m. (EDT), and that Joe Biden “convened a call” with officials around 8:15 a.m. There is no mention of the 80-year-old Biden being woken up in the middle of the night by the “3 a.m. phone call” that so famously featured in the 2016 presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Nor is there a mention of when Biden was first briefed.
The attack started at 6:30 a.m. Israeli time on Saturday, or 11:30 p.m. EDT Friday in Washington, D.C., with a barrage of thousands of rockets, according to an ABC News timeline of the attack (excerpt):
Oct. 7, 6:30 a.m. in Israel
Air raid sirens began sounding in Jerusalem around 6:30 a.m. local time, warning citizens of the attack in progress and to immediately take cover. An estimated 2,200 rockets were fired toward southern and central Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, by the Hamas militants, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Meanwhile, Hamas claimed at least 5,000 rockets were fired, all landing in southern and central Israel.
This writer first became aware of reports and videos of the Hamas attack on Israel two hours before the White House says they did. I became aware simply by scrolling my X Twitter feed while in bed getting ready to go to sleep and doing ‘one more’ look at the news. Fox News reporter Trey Yingst was posting videos from Israel showing cars on fire and explosions from missile attacks starting around 12:30 a.m. D.C. time, 7:30 a.m. Israeli time. Yet the Biden White House says they didn’t learn about the attacks until two hours later at 2:30.
Map of “red alerts” in Israel posted 12:24 a.m. EDT on Saturday by Trey Yingst, “NOW: Massive rocket barrages from Gaza continue into Israel. Sirens sounding across the southern and central parts of the country.”
NOW: Massive rocket barrages from Gaza continue into Israel. Sirens sounding across the southern and central parts of the country. pic.twitter.com/sz051y99Gt
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) October 7, 2023
Video of cars on fire in apartment complex posted at 12:31 a.m. EDT, “Multiple rocket impacts in southern Israel. This was coordinated by multiple factions in Gaza, I’m told. We’ve covered many rounds between Israel and Gaza in the past. Expect days of fighting ahead.” (Note: the tweet has been made private).
https://twitter.com/TreyYingst/status/1710513255716663782
Copy:
Breaking: Multiple rocket impacts in southern Israel. Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip launched massive rocket barrages at southern and central Israel on Saturday morning, setting off sirens in numerous cities and towns. https://t.co/uO0BXhKKKn
— Aric Chen 陳曉天 (@aricchen) October 7, 2023
Video report from Tel Aviv at 12:39 a.m. EDT, “BREAKING: Rocket fire targeting Tel Aviv right now. Multiple interceptions as air raid sirens sound.”
BREAKING: Rocket fire targeting Tel Aviv right now. Multiple interceptions as air raid sirens sound. pic.twitter.com/kJxvIXFxMk
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) October 7, 2023
Yingst at 1:34 a.m. EDT, an hour before the Biden administration says they became aware of the attack, “Wow. Hamas has launched a formal operation against Israel.”
Wow. Hamas has launched a formal operation against Israel.
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) October 7, 2023
By 2 a.m. EDT, Yingst is reporting “apocalyptic scenes” and border infiltrations by Hamas–thirty minutes before the Biden White House says they knew.
Apocalyptic scenes right now in southern Israel. pic.twitter.com/uuseUdcytV
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) October 7, 2023
Multiple impacts in southern Israel. pic.twitter.com/PC5z5y5WZi
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) October 7, 2023
Other posts by Israeli media posted before 1 a.m. EDT show the sights and sounds of the Hamas attack:
תיעוד: חילופי אש עם מחבלים בשטח ישראל. עשרות מחבלים חדרו לשטח המדינה@SuleimanMas1 @ItayBlumental pic.twitter.com/h2mJ5II9gE
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) October 7, 2023
In this astonishing video, note the Israeli police car simply driving past Hamas militants shooting inside an Israeli town. pic.twitter.com/eC3d6YOC2s
— Ariel Oseran (@ariel_oseran) October 7, 2023
12:30 a.m. EDT, one of the first videos of the paraglider attackers:
Terrorists are invading Israel using paragliders. This is a planned attack. Israelis in southern Israel are being called to stay inside their homes and lock the doors. pic.twitter.com/TEAOn0qOW3
— נריה קראוס Neria Kraus (@NeriaKraus) October 7, 2023
Right before and after midnight EDT, video of Hamas rockets fired on Israel:
Hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians are under missile attacks from Gaza. Southern and central cities in Israel woke up to the sound of alarms. This came as a surprise this morning, during the celebration of Sukkot holiday. pic.twitter.com/3HWAvasDZA
— נריה קראוס Neria Kraus (@NeriaKraus) October 7, 2023
A missile fired from Gaza – targeting a civilian city – hits a neighbourhood in the city of Ashkelon. pic.twitter.com/2fLDt9m57n
— נריה קראוס Neria Kraus (@NeriaKraus) October 7, 2023
A barrage of rockets fired at southern Israel a short time ago. pic.twitter.com/sjCV8ptLcT
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) October 7, 2023
All this while the Biden administration says they were not aware of the attack until 2:30 a.m.
Excerpt from the White House transcript of Saturday’s background call with reporters:
5:20 P.M. EDT
MODERATOR: Great. Sorry. Apologies for the delay, everyone. Good evening. And thanks, everyone, for your patience and joining our call. Thanks for joining this call on Hamas’s terrorist attack in Israel.
As a reminder, this call will be on background, attributable to a “senior administration official.” For your awareness, as you heard — not for reporting — on the line is [senior administration official]. As a reminder, the contents of this call are embargoed unto the call — until the call concludes.
With that, I’ll hand it over to [senior administration official], and we’ll take Qs and As after.
Over to you, [senior administration official].
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks, everybody, for joining this call. I just wanted to — we wanted to provide some, really, background about — about activity and kind of flesh out some of what the President discussed during his — during his phone call.
Last night around — really, 2:30 in the morning, we were alerted to the rocket attacks in Israel and were engaged, really, throughout the evening with our Israeli counterparts and regional counterparts to try to determine precisely what was unfolding.
This morning at 7:00 a.m., Jake Sullivan spoke with his Israeli counterpart. And then shortly thereafter, around 7:30, Jake convened a call with his national security team, including Secretary Blinken and others.
Shortly after that, around 8:15 or so, there was a call — the President convened a call with his national security team — with Jake Sullivan, Tony Blinken, Lloyd Austin, Bill Burns, and others. Throughout that call, the President received a full briefing on the situation and developments, directed full engagement with Israeli counterparts and with regional counterparts.
Immediately after that call — right at when that call ended, the President called Prime Minister Netanyahu. The Prime Minister, on that call, made very clear this was an unprecedented day for Israel. As he said publicly, Israel is at war.
The President offered his full support for Israel and emphasized the close coordination ongoing between our military and intelligence teams, noted that Secretary Austin would soon be speaking with his counterpart. And the President and the Prime Minister agreed to remain in regular contact, both between the two of them as leaders and also, obviously, through our teams.
Shortly thereafter, Secretary Austin discussed the situation with his counterpart, the Minister of Defense, Gallant, in Israel — again, full support for Israel’s military right to defend itself. And the Secretary issued a read-out after that call, which I’m sure you’ve seen.
According to this briefing, the Biden administration did not swing into action until morning in D.C., about seven or eight hours after the attack started. Biden slept, Blinken, slept, Austin slept, Sullivan slept.
Also according to the transcript of the briefing, not one reporter asked the senior administration official why the White House did not know about the attack for almost three hours after it started. It’s bad enough they were caught unware beforehand, but to be unaware for two hours after the attack commenced is incredible.
Hillary Clinton’s 3 a.m. phone call ad:
Bloomberg Politics parody ad:
The post No 3 A.M. Phone Call for Biden: White House Admits Awareness of Hamas Attack Came at 2:30 A.M. EDT, Three Hours Late Despite Immediate Social Media Evidence – Biden Convenes Call Only at 8:15 A.M. EDT appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.