In the face of the alarming hostage situation in Gaza, where at least 14 Americans have been confirmed dead, with more believed to be kidnapped by Hamas terrorists, the United States has not ruled out the potential deployment of a high-risk special operations commando rescue mission.
“We take the safety and security of Americans overseas very, very seriously,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, emphasizing the nation’s commitment to ensuring the safe return of its citizens, according to the Washington Examiner.
He added, “You have seen us act as efficiently and effectively as we can to get Americans that are being held hostage or wrongfully detained, in some cases, back home with their families. We will continue to do that in this case as well.”
Kirby also noted that there is a “very grim possibility” that American citizens were captured by Hamas during the terrorist attacks against Israel.
“We have to accept the very grim possibility and the likelihood that there are Americans being held hostage,” Kirby said. “We’re in constant touch with Israeli officials right now to try to get a sense of the whereabouts of all the unaccounted-for Americans because who knows where they are or what condition they’re in.”
“We don’t even know if, or how many, are being held hostage. But how we would go about doing that? Obviously, we wouldn’t detail too much publicly,” Kirby also stated on CNN. “I would tell you, broadly speaking, that we will do what we need to do to protect our national security interests there in the region.”
Former national security adviser Robert O’Brien stressed the urgency of the situation, suggesting the immediate deployment of special forces to Israel.
“We ought to have the FBI hostage rescue team also deployed to Israel,” he stated.
The situation in Israel has taken an unprecedented turn, with Hamas’ aggression and tactics being likened to those of ISIS. According to The Washington Examiner, a senior U.S. official pointed out the significant difference of the current situation from past conflicts, describing the acts of Hamas as “ISIS-level savagery.”
The heinous acts of violence and destruction have drawn widespread condemnation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a strong statement, saying, “Hamas terrorists bound, burned, and executed children. They are savages. Hamas is ISIS.”
The U.S. has been quick to support Israel, responding to its urgent plea for arms and ammunition. John Kirby confirmed on MSNBC that new military aid, including interceptor missiles and artillery ammunition, is on its way to Israel.
This news article was partially created with the assistance of artificial intelligence and edited and fact-checked by a human editor.
