National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday blamed Hamas terrorists for not allowing American citizens and other foreign nationals to leave Gaza amid the worsening Israel–Hamas war.
“Just as there is ongoing discussions and negotiations over the hostages,” Sullivan said during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union. “We are facing a similar situation with the American citizens and other foreign nationals who are trapped in Gaza.”
“It is true the Egyptians are prepared to allow American citizens and foreign nationals to come through the Rafah gate into Egypt. The Israelis have no issue with that. Hamas has been preventing their departure and making a series of demands. I can’t go through those demands in public, but that is the subject of the discussions in the negotiations that are ongoing,” he added.
There are some 600 American citizens trapped in Gaza; Sullivan said the U.S. is working to figure out a way to help them leave the territory.
Israel’s ground forces have entered the Gaza Strip for “the second stage of war” against Hamas, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Saturday. The country’s war cabinet elected to expand ground operations in Gaza, though it is not conducting a full-scale invasion. Israel has spent weeks firing air strikes on Gaza in an effort to eliminate enemy leaders and locations in the wake of an October 7 terrorist attack that killed 1,400 Israelis.
“It will be long and difficult,” Netanyahu said at a press conference in Tel Aviv. “We are ready. . . . This is our second independence war. We’re going to save our country.”
Netanyahu also reaffirmed the country’s commitment to securing the return of more than 200 hostages currently held by Hama in Gaza. So far, four people, including two American women, have been freed.
Meanwhile on Sunday, Sullivan warned about the real risk of the Israel-Hamas war turning into a wider regional conflict.
“The president has been very straightforward on this — if American troops are attacked by Iran and its proxies, we will respond. We did respond if attacks continue, will respond, and I think the Iranians understand our message,” Sullivan said on ABC’s This Week.
“And we, of course, are taking every measure necessary to protect our forces, to increase our vigilance, and to work with other countries in the region to try to keep this conflict that is currently in Israel and Gaza from spinning out into a regional conflict, but the risk is real, and therefore vigil is high and the steps we are taking to deter that and prevent that are serious, systematic and ongoing,” he added.