WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is expected to speak on Friday with families of some of the Americans believed to be held hostage in the Gaza Strip, according to a White House official.
“I think they have to know that the president of the United States of America cares deeply about them, deeply. We have to communicate to the world this is critical. This is not even human behavior. It’s pure barbarism, and we’re going to do everything in our power to get them home — if we can find them,” Biden said in a clip of his interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” that’s airing Sunday.
Biden’s official White House schedule didn’t say when and where the call would be taking place. The president is slated to travel to Philadelphia in the early afternoon to tour a marine terminal and deliver a speech about his administration’s economic plan.
The president and top U.S. officials have stressed that they will do everything they can to get American hostages released.
“We’re doing everything we can to secure the release of the hostages working closely with our Israeli partners,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during his trip to Israel on Thursday, noting that he brought with him the State Department’s deputy special representative for hostage affairs, Steve Gillen.
Blinken said Gillen joined his meetings with hostages’ families “and will stay on the ground here to support the efforts to free their loved ones.”
During a brief visit to Israel on Friday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was asked how Israel can defeat Hamas without killing civilians and hostages.
Austin said he would leave it to Israel to talk about their operations and approach, but reiterated that Israel has the right to defend itself and praised the Israel Defense Forces for their leadership and professionalism. “I have every expectation that it will be disciplined,” he said.
Israel has estimated that 150 people were taken to Gaza to be held hostage during Hamas’ terrorist attack last Saturday. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby confirmed on Thursday that the number of American hostages is believed to be less than a handful.
While Kirby declined to speak about any intelligence that might reveal the location of the hostages, he said that it’s “a common tactic in the Hamas playbook to break up hostages and move them around in, sometimes, small groups.”
He also said that the U.S. has not ruled out any option to get Americans released. “We obviously take seriously our responsibilities to get Americans held overseas back with their families. We have, in the past, entered into negotiations to do exactly that. And we have not foreclosed any option right now in terms of these particular hostages,” he said.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
