The US remains committed to “ongoing negotiations” for the release of hostages believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza, as officials work to find nine Americans held hostage after the extremist group’s terror attack on Israel, the White House national , still missing on Oct. 7, a security consultant said Sunday.
“Negotiations are ongoing between Israelis and Qataris, and we, the United States, are also actively involved in them because we want to make sure that we bring home the Americans who were taken hostage, as well as everyone else.” “Hostages,” Jake Sullivan said to ABC “This Week” co-host Jonathan Karl.
Pressed by Karl on the total number of hostages, Sullivan said that America did not have an “exact number.”
“We know the number of missing people and that is the number that the Israelis have given. But we don’t know how many of them are still alive,” Sullivan said. “As far as Americans are concerned, there are nine missing American citizens and one missing legal resident.” [resident]a green card holder.”
Sullivan continued: “That is the number whose safe return we are trying to ensure and we have been working with the families. In fact, I will be seeing family members of the American hostages in person next week.”
Karl also asked Sullivan whether the US believes Hamas’ claim that several hostages were killed in Israeli retaliatory strikes in Gaza.
“Well, first of all, we don’t take anything Hamas says at face value, but we don’t have any information to either confirm or refute that,” Sullivan replied. “As I said before, we simply do not know how many of the hostages are still alive, how many were mistreated, how many Hamas itself killed, just as it slaughtered hundreds and hundreds of people when they carried out these cruel and terrible “Terrorist attacks on October 7th.”
According to the Associated Press, Israeli officials said Saturday that “around 1,200” were killed by Hamas militants in the terror attack just over a month ago. That total was revised from a previous figure of about 1,400.
In a separate appearance on “This Week,” Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., discussed their recent trip to Israel, where they met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the interview.
“We had a very thoughtful conversation about the need for Congress to provide assistance to Israel and our support and commitment to our closest ally in the region,” Lawler said.
Moskowitz also discussed efforts to find the prisoners in Gaza. “There aren’t a lot of good options. The hostages are in multiple locations, some are in the tunnels, some are not in the tunnels,” he said, later adding: “They are working on multiple plans to locate them.” hostages. I don’t want to go into it in more detail, but that is of course the top priority.”
Sullivan was asked in his interview whether medical facilities in Gaza, such as Al-Shifa Hospital, now at the center of some fighting, had become legitimate military targets given that Israel says Hamas has tunnels beneath them built to operate.
Sullivan said the U.S. doesn’t want a “firefight” to break out in any hospital, but stressed that there is plenty of publicly available evidence that Hamas is using civilian areas “to store weapons, command and control, and house its fighters.” “ use.
He called it “a violation of the laws of war.”
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks at the White House on October 10, 2023. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Still, Sullivan said the United States doesn’t want a situation “where innocent people, helpless people and people seeking medical attention are caught in the crossfire.”
“That just shows [to] “How difficult this military operation is because Israel is an additional burden given the way Hamas operates – but that does not diminish its responsibility to protect civilians,” he added.
Israeli military officials insisted they were not targeting hospitals and said they would take measures to help patients leave Al-Shifa.
More than 11,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. On Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the death toll was already too high
“Far too many Palestinians have been killed, far too many have suffered in the last few weeks, and we want to do everything we can to protect them from harm and maximize the help they receive,” Blinken said after a multi-day trip to Palestine Region. “To this end, we will continue to discuss with Israel concrete steps that can be taken to advance these goals.”
Sullivan was pressed by Karl on Sunday, citing Blinken’s comments, about whether Israel is doing enough to prevent civilian casualties. Sullivan reiterated that President Joe Biden, Blinken and himself had conveyed concerns about civilians to the Israelis.
“The loss of a single innocent life is a tragedy, whether it is a Palestinian, an Israeli or anyone else, and we mourn every innocent life lost,” Sullivan told Karl. “We believe in the sanctity of life.”
“And so they take action to go after the terrorists. It is their duty to do this in a way that separates the terrorists from innocent Palestinian civilians,” Sullivan said.
Moskowitz and Lawler said in their own interview that Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas. While Lawler said humanitarian aid should be provided, he supported Israel’s extensive military operations in Gaza against Hamas.
“Those calling for a ceasefire completely misunderstand the situation here,” he said. “Hamas is not someone, not an organization, that will abide by a ceasefire. She is determined to wipe out the State of Israel.”
Looking ahead, however, Sullivan said the conflict should not end with an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza.
“We will work with all our partners, with the Israelis, with countries in the Arab world and especially with the Palestinians, so that they can have a voice in future governance in both the West Bank and Gaza,” he said.