The Israel Defence Forces have told US officials that more American hostages — in addition to Judith Tai Raanan and Natalie Raanan, who were released on Friday — are alive and being held by Hamas in Gaza, a US official said.
The belief that there are more American hostages alive in Gaza is a major reason Biden administration officials are advising Israel to delay a ground incursion into Gaza, the official said. Still, they cautioned, there’s “no effort here to run intervention on military planning.” There are believed to be fewer than 10 American hostages held in Gaza.
“There’s definitely a feeling that Hamas is trading hostages for time. The further removed we get from October 7, the more international perception shifts from outrage/horror to calls to be rational,” another US official told CNN.
The Raanans are still in Israel after their release, and are expected to go through a debriefing process with US officials, which is a typical part of the decompression process after an American hostage is freed. Those conversations will centre on gathering intelligence about the conditions surrounding the Raanans’ captivity that could prove helpful to the administration’s ongoing efforts to get more hostages freed.
Ten Americans are unaccounted for, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
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US President Joe Biden also spoke with foreign counterparts and discussed, according to a readout from the White House, the hopes for the release of more hostages. Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz all visited Israel last week and French President Emmanuel Macron is set to visit Tuesday.
The message conveyed to Israel is that a delay helps on several levels, a western diplomat said.
“Essentially the emphasis has been to take the heat out of the situation,” the diplomat said. “We see that slowing things down a bit is good for regional de-escalation. Allowing more time to get aid in and progress on hostages.”
Israel has also been told: “you have our support but you don’t have an absolute blank check, we’ve all got equities in this. Give it a bit of time and space,” the diplomat added.
