Blinken: 'Depravity in the worst imaginable way'
At a news conference Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked about the gruesome photos and videos shown to him behind closed doors by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"It’s beyond what anyone would ever want to imagine, much less, God forbid, experience. A baby, an infant -- riddled with bullets. Soldiers beheaded. Young people, burned alive," he said. "I could go on, but it’s simply depravity in the worst imaginable way."
Blinken said that some of the images had been seen before, but others were new to him, and again said that Hamas’ acts harkened back to ISIS.
"I think for any human being to see this -- it’s really beyond almost anything that we can comprehend, digest," Blinken continued. "You can’t help but imagine yourself, your family, your loved ones, your friends in that situation, in that predicament and maybe the best word for it for me is overwhelming."
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While some of the claims made by the IDF have been questioned and others have fueled online claims that the Israeli government is spreading disinformation, Blinken said that the photos would ultimately show exactly the horrors its people have confronted and serve to unify through "moral clarity."
-ABC News' Shannon Crawford