America will provide “each form of help” to Israel in relation to addressing the hostage state of affairs within the Israel-Hamas battle, a deputy nationwide safety adviser for the Biden administration advised “CBS Mornings” on Monday.
“I count on the state of affairs of the hostages to tackle growing focus over the course of the approaching days,” Jon Finer mentioned, including that the U.S. will likely be “laser targeted” on affirmation of any Individuals being held.Â
“Simply given the sheer numbers concerned, we do count on that there could be Individuals who’ve been caught up within the hostage taking,” Finer mentioned.Â
Hamas is believed to be holding scores of hostages after lots of of members of the militant group, which has lengthy been designated a terrorist group by the U.S. and Israel, launched their assault on Saturday. Some Hamas fighters smashed via a barrier that Israel has used for many years to include Palestinians contained in the Gaza Strip, whereas others infiltrated Israel by air and sea.Â
Gunmen from the group slaughtered civilians within the streets and kidnapped folks — together with ladies, kids and the aged — who had been believed to be transported into Gaza. Israel’s Authorities Press Workplace mentioned on Sunday that Hamas took greater than 100 folks hostage.
The U.S. was working to confirm experiences that Individuals had been amongst these taken, Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned Sunday.
“We have got experiences that a number of Individuals are among the many useless. We’re working very actively to confirm these experiences. On the identical time, the experiences of Individuals being taken hostage — there too, we’re working to get the info to seek out out if these experiences are correct,” Blinken mentioned on “Face the Nation.” Â
Officers mentioned greater than 700 Israelis have been killed, largely civilians, together with greater than 250 who had been attending a music pageant close to the border with Gaza when the assault happened. At the least 9 Individuals are among the many useless, a U.S. Nationwide Safety Council spokesperson confirmed Monday. An undetermined quantity remained lacking.
A whole lot of Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s response to Hamas’ assault.
Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, is backed by Iran. However Finer mentioned that whereas Iran is “broadly complicit in these assaults” and has been Hamas’ “major backer for many years,” the U.S. has not seen “any form of direct involvement within the fast assaults that happened over the past couple of days.”
“The Israel Protection Forces are saying the identical factor: broad complicity for Iran, no signal of any fast path,” he mentioned, “though that is clearly one thing that we’re going to proceed to look at very carefully.”
Republican presidential candidates are attempting to hyperlink Hamas’ assault to the latest U.S. take care of Iran that introduced 5 American prisoners residence and included unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian oil belongings. The White Home has sharply pushed again, insisting that the cash is safeguarded for meals and humanitarian support, and that not a single cent of that cash has been spent — not to mention to fund terrorists.Â
CBS Information’ Haley Ott, Holly Williams, Weijia Jiang and Caitlin Yilek contributed to this report. Â
Israel-Gaza Battle
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