Biden’s national security adviser declined to say whether the U.S. was comfortable with Israel’s bailout

CNN
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National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday declined to say whether the US was comfortable Israeli hostage rescue mission Kazan officials say more than two hundred people were killed.

“Innocent people were killed miserably in this operation. The exact number, we don’t know, but innocent people were killed and it’s heartbreaking. That’s tragic,” Sullivan told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”

“The president himself has said in recent days that the Palestinian people are in absolute hell in this conflict because Hamas is working to put them in the crosshairs, holding hostages in the heart of crowded civilian areas,” he added. .

The Israeli army rescued four hostages in a special operation in the Nusirat refugee camp in central Gaza, which Gazan authorities said killed 236 people and wounded more than 400.

CNN has no way of verifying the death toll reported by Palestinian officials in Gaza. Medical records in war-torn enclaves do not distinguish between civilian and combat casualties. An Israeli military spokesman put the death toll in the operation at “less than 100” and did not say how many of them were civilians.

Pressed by Bash on whether the U.S. was comfortable with how the mission was accomplished, Sullivan called for a diplomatic solution “where military action is not necessary to evacuate every last hostage.”

“Unfortunately, we’re going to continue to see ongoing conflicts and military operations where Israel is trying to rescue its citizens and, frankly, American citizens. We want to see a ceasefire where the hostages come out peacefully,” he said.

CNN previously reported that the US cell in Israel was supporting efforts to rescue the four Israeli hostages, but Sullivan did not elaborate.

“The United States has been supporting Israel for months to help identify the locations of hostages in Gaza and to support efforts to rescue or rescue them,” he said. things.

Sullivan added, “We are not participating militarily in this operation.”

The United States has not confirmed Hamas’ claims that other Israeli hostages in Gaza were killed during the mission, but Sullivan said widely that it was “always a risk,” as President Joe Biden advocates for a cease-fire deal. Recent days.

“The best way to bring home all the hostages and protect Palestinian citizens is to end this war. The best way to end this war is for Hamas to say ‘yes’ to the deal,” he said, adding that “the only credible path forward.”