Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Monday that President Joe Biden will head to Israel on Wednesday in the aftermath of the Hamas terror attacks and the burgeoning Israel-Hamas war.

President Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced early Tuesday, delivering a strong show of support to a key U.S. ally who has declared war against the terrorist group Hamas after a brutal surprise attack early this month.

Mr. Biden is "coming here at a critical moment for Israel, for the region, and for the world," Blinken said in remarks during a visit to Israel. 

"First, the president will reaffirm the United States' solidarity with Israel and our ironclad commitment to its security," Blinken said. "Second, President Biden will underscore our crystal-clear message to any actor, state or non-state, who would try to take advantage of this crisis to attack Israel: Don't. To that end, he's deployed two aircraft carrier groups and other military assets to the region."

"Third, the president will continue to coordinate closely with our Israeli partners to secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas, including men, women, small children, Holocaust survivors, and American citizens," Blinken added.

BREAKING: President Biden traveling to Israel Wednesday, Secretary Blinken just said, after a 7-hour meeting with PM Netanyahu. pic.twitter.com/uNtNCg1kzy

— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) October 17, 2023

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shot down reports of a cease-fire:

Israel's government denied reports Monday that it had agreed to a cease-fire in at least part of the Gaza Strip to allow humanitarian aid in and people with international passports to escape into Egypt, as the Israeli military continued hammering the Hamas-controlled enclave with missiles.

"There is currently no cease-fire," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement, dismissing reports that a deal had been brokered to enable foreign nationals massing near Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt — along with thousands of Palestinian civilians — to flee. 

It's been over a week since Hamas launched its surprise horror attacks, murdered over 1,400 people, and captured an estimated 200 hostages. Israel has been pounding the Gaza Strip with airstrikes in response while also ramping up its preparations for an expected ground campaign. The U.S. military has sent two aircraft carriers to the region, and the Pentagon issued “prepare for deployment” directives to 2,000 American soldiers.

An estimated 30 U.S. citizens are among the dead, and as many as 600 U.S. nationals are thought to be trapped in Gaza. Thirteen Americans are unaccounted for and could be hostages.

As RedState's Nick Arama reported, Biden does not want to see an Israeli occupation:

While Joe Biden has been saying he stands rock solid with Israel, he's already made clear that isn't quite true. As we reported, during a "60 Minutes" interview, he threw them somewhat under the bus when he said he thought it would be a "big mistake" if they occupied Gaza. 

“I think it’d be a big mistake,” Biden said about an occupation.

"Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don’t represent all the Palestinian people. And I think that it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again.” 

Time will tell if anything positive comes out of the trip. Many pundits have opined that the Biden administration was openly hostile to the Jewish state before these attacks, with the Wall Street Journal editorial board writing in July that "the President treats the governing coalition in Jerusalem worse than he does Iran."