A White House official confirmed that over 300 Americans have escaped from war-torn Gaza.
According to Fox News, Deputy National Security Adviser Jonathan Finer stated this during his CBS interview on “Face the Nation” Sunday.
He noted the hundreds who have left are, “Americans, lawful permanent residents and their family members.”
“This is obviously a major priority, and one that we’re going to continue to work out until every American who wants to leave is able to do so,” he went on.
Fox News also noted that a list including 400 Americans has been created to offer them evacuation clearance.
At least 10 Americans are allegedly being held hostage by Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. Israeli officials have said they believe these Americans are being stowed in tunnels Hamas has dug out beneath Gaza City.
Finer noted during his interview that hostage negotiations are complicated but are currently underway.
He also stated, “We continue to believe that there is the possibility of getting a significant number of these hostages released.”
Finer went on to explain, “And you’ve heard both President Biden and the Prime Minister of Israel say that there could be a pause in the fighting to enable that, the way there was when two American hostages were released very early in the conflict.”
“And we’re going to continue to work on that as well,” he added.
Just Sunday, Reuters reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, “There will be no ceasefire without the return of the hostages. This should be completely removed from the lexicon.”
This was during an address at the Ramon Air Force base in southern Israel, where he added, “We say this to our friends and to our enemies. We will simply continue until we defeat them. We have no alternative.”