The White House offered a comprehensive overview of what will happen to the hostages released by Hamas, who were held in “abhorrent” conditions for six weeks.
Pending an agreement, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday that the first step would be safe entry into Israel, followed by “immediate medical care.”
“We must assume that many of them require medical attention and are being held in terrible conditions. That is why they are offered the opportunity to receive this medical assistance,” he said.
Some of the hostages, he suspected, may have longer-term medical needs.
While he declined to speculate on the size or nationality of the potential pool of hostages that could be released, Kirby indicated that once medical care is secured, efforts will be made to return citizens to their home countries and reunite them with their families connect to.
If American citizens are involved in a possible hostage release, Kirby said the US State Department would provide assistance after prioritizing medical care.
“The State Department would ensure that it looks after them from a consular perspective and provides them with whatever assistance they need in follow-on movements,” he said.
Kirby also said US President Joe Biden is “personally involved in moving the process forward” as negotiations continue.
Kirby said that the president “has been in contact with his national security team and the team on the ground that has been helping with the negotiations, literally every day to get an update on what’s going on – usually several times a day – and stepped in.” as he thought it appropriate to step in personally.