Hamas’ attempts to smuggle wounded terrorists out of the Palestinian territories has delayed ongoing efforts to get foreigners, including Americans, out of the Gaza Strip, the Biden administration revealed on Friday.
“Hamas is not letting anyone out,” a senior Biden administration official said during a call with reporters. “And then they said that they would allow the foreigners to leave, subject to a certain number of wounded Palestinians being allowed to leave, too, who of course did not object.
“But the list that was given, once it was checked, about a third of the wounded Palestinians on that list were Hamas members,” the official continued, calling the deception “unacceptable.”
About 6,000 foreigners are trapped in the war zone, according to the official, including as many as 500 US citizens, most of them dual citizens.
For weeks, Hamas has denied thousands of foreigners safe passage out of Gaza, according to senior Biden administration officials.STRINGER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
President Biden announced on Wednesday that Hamas had finally agreed to allow some US citizens to leave the Gaza Strip, along with wounded Palestinians and other foreigners.
Biden administration officials said Qatar and Egypt were “very critical” in negotiations with Hamas.
On Thursday, Biden told reporters that “74 Americans, two citizens” were able to leave Gaza, departing through the Rafah crossing to Egypt. Five Americans were able to get out the previous day.
Seventy-four US citizens were able to leave the Gaza Strip on Thursday. AFP via Getty Images
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that he expects more Americans to be able to leave “at the same rate, if not better than what we’re seeing.”
The urgency to get out of Gaza has intensified in recent days as Israel has stepped up military operations in the narrow strip of land, bombing Hamas targets.
Israeli airstrikes on the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza, targeting Hamas leaders, killed at least 50 people earlier this week, according to reports.
“It’s not our military, it’s not a US military campaign, so I don’t want to be here as an armchair quarterback, but I will say when there’s an incident, we’re definitely having conversations with Israel,” a Biden administration official said when asked about the strike. that, calling the image afterwards “terrifying.”
“The explanation we got from the Israeli side, it’s not just a battalion, a battalion commander, it’s a number of its leaders, an important contingent of the battalion,” the official added, noting “the intention is not to demolish city blocks.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
