Key Biden aide Brett McGurk on Hamas, Iran, Saudi Arabia and why U.S. nearly took “draconian measures” against Israel

October 4, 2026 / 12:25 PM EDT / CBS News

President Joe Biden was on the verge of taking "draconian measures" after an Israeli military drone strike killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in the Gaza Strip in April 2024, but U.S. intelligence that Iran was about to launch an "unprecedented" aerial attack on Israel prevented Biden from moving forward, according to Brett McGurk, a top Middle East adviser to four presidents.

In an interview with "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" taped Thursday, McGurk described Biden as "fed up" with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's handling of the war in Gaza.

"At that moment, if not for that impending missile attack, which we then had to deploy military forces … I think we would have taken some pretty draconian measures against Israel," he said, adding that cutting off U.S. weapons to Israel "was very much on the table."

The U.S. and its Arab and European partners helped protect Israel from the Iranian attack, which McGurk said included 120 ballistic missiles, 170 drones and 30 cruise missiles that were "all launched to land at the same time."

In his new memoir titled "Brink," which is set to be published…

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