A senior White House official said on Saturday in a press briefing that the evacuation of the wounded and foreign citizens from Gaza was delayed because Hamas had tried to take some of its wounded fighters through the Rafah crossing to Egypt for treatment, Hebrew media sourced the official as saying.
“A third of the people who were on the list that Hamas submitted turned out to be Hamas fighters,” said the official.
The senior official added that the administration is talking about a “humanitarian truce” and not a ceasefire, and claimed that it is impossible to talk about it “when a terrorist organization murders 1,400 people, kidnaps civilians, and hides in tunnels.”
President Biden’s visit to Israel and a conversation with Egyptian President El-Sisi led to the beginning of the arrival of humanitarian aid, about 100 trucks a day, N12 reported, and he says that “they are working on it to increase.”
The conversation with the Egyptian president acknowledged that there are still foreign citizens in Gaza who have difficulty leaving the region. “Yesterday foreign nationals were allowed to leave Gaza but Hamas didn’t allow them. There are approximately 6,000 foreign nationals and 1,000 Americans and their families who cannot leave because of Hamas,” N12 reported him as saying.
“Not the time to withhold funds from Palestinian Authority”
The White House official also said that “this is not the time to withhold funds from the Palestinian Authority – the opposite should be done.” The Biden administration opposes the cabinet’s decision from Thursday to offset part of the tax money that Israel transfers to the Palestinian Authority.
The senior official in the White House stated that steps must be taken to increase stability in the West Bank. “Hamas is the enemy of the Palestinian Authority – that is our opinion,” said the official in the White House.
The senior Biden administration official also said that the United States is making intense efforts to gain the release of hostages from Hamas control in Gaza.
The official admitted, however, that there is no guarantee of success or a timeframe.
The official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said there is “indirect engagement” aimed at finding a framework to get hostages out of Gaza, but that the work is extremely difficult.
Barak Ravid/Walla and Reuters contributed to this report.
