Hamas blocking Americans from leaving Gaza: Blinken
By Ryan King
Published Oct. 22, 2023, 11:04 a.m. ET
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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https://nypost.com/2023/10/22/blinken-says-hamas-preventing-americans-from-leaving-gaza/