President Joe Biden on Wednesday said the US is deeply engaged with Israeli officials and providing resources and expertise towards the recovery of the hundreds of hostages taken by Hamas after this past weekend’s terrorist attacks but declined to go into detail, citing operational safety concerns.
“We’re working on every aspect of the hostage crisis in Israel, including deploying experts to advise and assist with recovery efforts,” he said during an event to discuss the White House’s strategy to counter antisemitism alongside Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.
Acknowledging the presence of members of the White House press corps in the room, Mr Biden said he expected reporters to ask about what he is doing to bring home the US nationals who are among the hostages now held by the terrorist group.
“If I told you I wouldn’t be able to get them home,” he said.
The president added that “there’s a lot” that his administration is doing and stressed that he has “not given up hope” of bringing hostages home, but he told attendees that he hoped they understand why he considers it “bizarre” to attempt to answer questions about how the US is going about retrieving hostages.
He also promised that his administration would continue to “work closely with our partners in Israel and around the world to ensure Israel has what is needed to defend its citizens and cities and to respond to these attacks”.
“My commitment to Israel security and the safety of Jewish people is unshakable — the United States has Israel's back and I have yours as well, both at home and abroad,” he said.
Mr Biden also told attendees at the roundtable — a group which included representatives from top Jewish and civil rights organisations from around the US — that in his conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he has stressed the importance of Israel “operating by the rules of war” as they respond to the unprecedented attacks.
He said he believes Mr Netanyahu is “doing everything in his power to to pull the country together” and stressed that his administration would in turn do “everything in our power to make sure he succeeds — and God willing — to bring home those Americans who are in harm's way”.
And while Mr Biden promised that officials would provide more details on US efforts to the attendees outside the presence of the press, he again took pains to underscore the importance of keeping some details under wraps.
“There’s a lot to talk about ... it's hard to talk about this without detail. And it's contrary to our interests to let out the detail of what we're going on,” he said.
Mr Biden’s remarks came just hours after the White House confirmed that at least 17 Americans are known to be missing after the brutal Hamas attacks, during which terrorists tortured and beheaded innocent civilians — including infant children.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at the White House’s daily briefing that the government’s count of Americans killed in the attacks current stands at 22, with 17 unaccounted for and thought to be held hostage.
She cautioned that both of those numbers are “likely to increase in the days ahead”.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that “a number” of the 17 unaccounted-for Americans are being held hostage, and warned that the hostage count will go up as more becomes known.
“We know that a number of those Americans are being held hostage right now by Hamas. I think we all need to steel ourselves for the very distinct possibility that these numbers will keep increasing and that we may in fact, find out that more Americans are part of the hostage pool,” he said.
