Instead, the assistance would come in the form of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. The support would not entail US troops on the ground in Israel. The US is offering Israel special operations planning and intelligence support as part of the effort to rescue hostages taken by Hamas, a US defense official told CNN. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” Sunday that the US was “working overtime” to verify reports of missing and dead Americans, and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer said Americans are among the “scores” of hostages being held in Gaza. US authorities have been scrambling to establish how many Americans have been killed or taken hostage in the conflict. State Department spokesman Matt Miller told CNN’s Phil Mattingly on Monday that US authorities are in close contact with Israel’s government and the families of those affected by the attack. “For those who desire to leave, commercial flights and ground options are still available,” he said. The US government is not “actively considering” emergency evacuation of US citizens in Israel, a spokesperson for the National Security Council told CNN Monday evening.īiden, in his statement, said the State Department is providing consular assistance and updated security alerts to keep Americans apprised of the situation as it evolves, but that Americans would need to arrange their own travel plans to leave the country. “It is personal for so many American families who are feeling the pain of this attack as well as the scars inflicted through millennia of antisemitism and persecution of Jewish people.”īiden will deliver remarks on Israel at 1 p.m. The ties between Israel and the United States run deep,” he said. It is “likely,” Biden said, that American citizens may be among those being held hostage by Hamas, and his administration is working with Israeli officials on “every aspect of the hostage crisis.” There are also American citizens whose whereabouts remain unaccounted for, according to the president. “Sadly, we now know that at least 11 American citizens were among those killed-many of whom made a second home in Israel.” “As we continue to account for the horrors of the appalling terrorist assault against Israel this weekend and the hundreds of innocent civilians who were murdered, we are seeing the immense scale and reach of this tragedy,” Biden said in a statement. Eleven US citizens have died in the conflict in Israel, President Joe Biden said Monday, and an unknown number remain missing.
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