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Jake Sullivan said that there is still no clear path to evacuate American citizens from Gaza as the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Hamas terrorists wages on for an eighth day.
There are 15 Americans still missing – and believed to be held hostage in Gaza. Meanwhile, 29 U.S. citizens are now confirmed dead after Hamas attacked Israel last weekend.
CNN host Jake Tapper tore into the White House National Security Advisor on Sunday, claiming that it doesn’t appear that President Joe Biden is making rescuing hostages ‘a priority at all.’
Meanwhile, the State of the Union anchor noted that ‘Israel is bombing the crap out of Gaza’ in an onslaught of counter strikes, and it’s unclear if Americans are caught in the crossfire.
‘I’m not aware of anyone else being able to get out [of Gaza],’ Sullivan told NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday.
‘We’re trying to create the circumstances where [U.S.] citizens who are in Gaza and looking to leave’ can, he added.
CNN host Jake Tapper tore into National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, claiming that it doesn’t seem Biden’s administration is making hostage rescue a ‘priority at all’ while ‘the Israelis are bombing the crap out of Gaza’ in counterstrikes that may catch Americans in the crossfires
It’s believed 15 Americans are being held hostage in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza amid Hamas terrorists attacking Israel last week and sparking a slew of counterstrikes from the Jewish State. Pictured: Rescuers and civilians remove rubble of a home destroyed following a strike in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, October 15
During a separate interview on Sunday with CBS News, Sullivan told host Margaret Brennan that while there are channels to communicate with Iran, the Biden administration has not used them to warn against escalating conflict with Israel.
‘We have means of communicating privately with Iran, and we have availed ourselves of those means over the past few days,’ he said.
So far, Israel is reporting that more than 1,300 of their citizens have died during the rocket attacks from Hamas – and more than 3,000 are wounded. It is still unknown how many are missing or being held hostage by terrorists in Gaza.
But Israel said Thursday it had confirmed the identities of 97 hostages taken to Gaza.
‘Is rescuing the hostages a priority at all?’ Tapper pressed Sullivan in his Sunday interview.
‘I mean, Israeli news media like Haaretz, they say it doesn’t seem like it at all,’ he added. ‘And frankly, Jake, if my kids were being held hostage in Gaza and as you know, there are Americans being held hostage in Gaza right now, I’d want you to send in the Navy SEALs. What’s the conversation like in the White House about the U.S. conducting any sort of operations in order to save Americans being held hostage in Gaza?’
Sullivan insisted: ‘Well, the president has been very clear that he has no higher priority than getting Americans back safe, Americans who are being held hostage by Hamas.’
‘The Israelis are bombing the crap out of Gaza! And Jake, I mean, it doesn’t seem like saving the hostages are a priority at all right now,’ Tapper pressed.
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‘Well, for President Biden, they are a priority. They’re the highest possible priority,’ Sullivan repeated.
Biden’s National Security Advisor added: ‘I have to be cautious about how much I can say about certain efforts he’s undertaking, because we want to protect those efforts to give us the best possible chance of getting our people home.’
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has repeatedly said the U.S. is not ruling out using U.S. forces to rescue hostages.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Sunday that President Joe Biden’s administration has not been able to get U.S. citizens out of Gaza
Biden finally launched charter flights out of Israel on Friday after mounting pressure and criticism as other countries immediately evacuated their citizens from the war torn Jewish state. Pictured: Slovak nationals land in Slovakia from Israel after a government aircraft evacuated them on Wednesday, October 11
Authorities in Gaza said on Friday that 1,900 Palestinians were killed so far and approximately 7,700 wounded by Israeli counter strikes.
The United Nations reported on Thursday that 12 of its workers had been killed in the fighting in Gaza since Saturday.
Republicans directly blame the waging conflict on Biden’s authorization of a $6 billion payment to Iran for the release of five Americans held in Tehran. They say that Iran is funding Hamas – a U.S.-designated terrorist group – with the knowledge these funds were unfrozen from where it was being held in South Korea.
Biden’s team insists that no funds from that payment have moved since the attacks started last week.
The GOP is also critical of Biden’s slow-to-move plan to airlift Americans out of Israel amid the violence. It came only after the President faced rising pressure to fly citizens home.
Commercial airlines started providing planes on Friday – but it will only take fleeing Americans as far as Europe. There will be at least four charter flights per day taking Americans out of the country.
It’s estimated that 160,000-170,000 Americans are in Israel both as residents, tourists, or otherwise.
While it’s thought that there are 15 hostages and other American citizens in Gaza, Sullivan said on Sunday that the administration hasn’t ‘been able to get American citizens through’ the border crossing with Israel so far.
