(Dan Tri) – US officials said that the country could send troops to Gaza to rescue hostages held by Hamas forces, but emphasized that Washington has no plans to do so.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby (Photo: Reuters).
In an interview with Fox News on October 15, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the country would not rule out the possibility of deploying the military to help free hostages held by Hamas in the incident.
However, Mr. Kirby emphasized that the US has not yet made any plans for the above option.
When asked if he would absolutely rule out the possibility of sending special forces to Gaza, Mr. Kirby replied: `I would not rule out any possibility related to rescuing the hostages. We are working hard.`
He emphasized that the US has no plans or intentions to send troops to the scene to fight in the conflict between Israel and Hamas and that President Joe Biden’s administration is making efforts to find the hostages.
White House officials said earlier this week that at least 14 Americans remained missing in Israel.
Palestinian forces are said to be holding more than 100 hostages, including civilians, Israeli officials and an unknown number of American citizens.
After more than a week, fighting in Israel and Gaza has claimed the lives of more than 3,600 people – mostly civilians – from both sides, and injured thousands more.
Israel launched a major counter-attack in response to Hamas, repeatedly bombing the Gaza Strip.
Hamas forces last week warned that they would execute Israeli hostages if Israel continued to conduct air strikes on civilians in Gaza.
Izzat al-Risheq, a Hamas official, told CNN on October 11 that it was too early to exchange Israeli hostages while Tel Aviv was continuing to attack the Gaza Strip.
`We will only discuss this (hostage exchange) when Israel’s attack on our people stops,` he said.
On the other hand, Israeli authorities claim that Hamas is holding hostages in underground locations.
Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, said Hamas had planned the attack, kidnapping of hostages and location of hostages in advance.
Gaza’s densely populated terrain, network of underground tunnels and large numbers of men, women and children held captive have left Israel facing its most complex hostage crisis to date.
