Published October 21, 2023
Hamas is preventing Americans and other foreign nationals from exiting the Gaza Strip, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday.
“The ball is in the Hamas’ court in terms of letting people who want to leave — civilians from third countries including Americans,” Blinken told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
When pressed about whether Hamas was preventing Americans from leaving Gaza, the US’s top diplomat responded, “That’s correct.
“We have US personnel on the other side of the border in Egypt, consular personell” he said, declining to outright specify whether any US personnel is presently in Gaza.
Blinken declined to say whether Hamas had taken American hostages or if other terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip, such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, had some of them.
President Biden spoke on the phone Saturday with freed Americans Judith Raanan, 59, and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie, who were recently released from captivity in Gaza.
Israel is expected to mount a ground invasion of Gaza imminently.
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SOURCE: https://nypost.com/2023/10/22/blinken-says-hamas-preventing-americans-from-leaving-gaza/
RELATED: Israel Orders More Evacuations Amid Fears of Conflict Widening
As Israel readies its troops for a ground invasion of Gaza, escalating clashes on its border with Lebanon and violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank raised fears the conflict could spill over.
Credit…Yousef Masoud for The New York Times
Published October 22, 2023
As Israeli forces massed along the border with Gaza on Sunday ahead of an expected ground invasion of the enclave, escalating clashes on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon along with strikes in Syria and in the Israeli-occupied West Bank intensified fears of a widening regional conflict.
The Israeli authorities said they were expanding a state-funded evacuation plan to move residents from an additional 14 Israeli villages near the border with Lebanon to safer areas. The move came as Israel’s military said Sunday it was contending with increasing attacks from Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia that controls southern Lebanon, that have resulted in civilian and military casualties.
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SOURCE: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/10/22/world/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news
RELATED: Blinken: Hamas Is Blocking Americans From Leaving Gaza
“The ball is in the Hamas’ court in terms of letting people who want to leave — civilians from third countries including Americans,” the secretary of state said
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington, DC on September 25, 2023. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) GETTY IMAGES
Published October 21, 2023
SECRETARY OF STATE Antony Blinken accused militant group Hamas of blocking Americans and citizens of other nations from crossing into Egypt from Gaza and said that “some significant number” of the 10 unaccounted for Americans are being held hostage by Hamas.
“We have several hundred Americans and other nationalities, other civilians from other countries who want to leave Gaza,” Blinken said on Face the Nation. “We’ve had people come to Rafah, the crossing with Egypt. And to date, at least, Hamas has blocked them from leaving, showing once again, its total disregard for civilians of any kind who are stuck in Gaza.”
The militant group launched an Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed around 1,400 and captured 200 others, including Americans. Israel has begun an air offensive in retaliation, and more than 4,300 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. Facilitated by the Red Cross, Hamas released two American hostages, Judith and Natalie Raanan, at the Gaza border on Friday.
During an appearance on Meet the Press, Blinken said of the remaining Americans being held hostage, “We’ve got 10 unaccounted for Americans. We believe that some significant number are hostages… and it just underscores the horror. Israel continues to discover, uncover people who are killed who were slaughtered and I use that term very advisedly, slaughtered on Oct. 7. What we don’t know for sure is whether some of the unaccounted for are dead, and have simply not been uncovered yet, or whether they’re hostage, but we have a pretty strong idea that some number of the 10 at least are being held in Gaza by Hamas. “
