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According to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, up to 1,000 Americans were trapped in the Gaza Strip as the war between Israel and Hamas continues to rage around them. Now, new reports have come in that a handful of US citizens were allowed to exit the region however, the exact number remains unclear as Hamas has been refusing to allow the exit of hundreds of others in the region.
State Department representative Matthew Miller said some Americans would be able to leave Wednesday, November 1, according to CBS News however, it was not specified how many people this entailed or if more would follow suit.
As per testimony from Secretary Blinken on Tuesday, hundreds more are still stuck in Gaza and unable to evacuate due to obstacles presented by Hamas. The U.S., for its part, has already managed to get five Americans out via charter flight from Israel on Tuesday, yet airlines had canceled flights after the Oct 7 massacre committed by Hamas which left 1,400 Israelis dead.
WHAT ABOUT THE 1,000 AMERICANS YOU LEFT BEHIND IN GAZA???
— JWRcanyon (@jwrcanyon) November 1, 2023
National security adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed Sunday that while both Egypt and Israel had no issue with allowing evacuees through the Rafah gate into Egypt, Hamas was preventing their departure while making several demands which he could not discuss publicly at the time. This echoed what Secretary of State Blinken said at a Senate Appropriations Committee meeting on Tuesday – that Hamas was indeed impeding evacuation efforts and blocking US citizens from leaving Gaza altogether unless it agreed otherwise.
Democratic Sen Jeff Merkley meanwhile relayed an anecdote from a family who three times so far received word telling them “drop everything [and] go” only for nothing ever happened when they arrived at the crossing each night since then – “they weren’t interfered with by Hamas”, Merkley said – “just the gate never opened”.
While efforts are ongoing between parties like Egypt and Israel (as well as intermediaries) in order for those caught in this situation can safely make it out of Gaza, Secretary Blinken has reiterated his department’s commitment towards providing aid where it can during these trying times.
