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U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, May 22, 2024.
CNN
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National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan declined Sunday to say whether the United States was comfortable with an Israeli hostage rescue mission that Gaza officials say killed more than two hundred people.
“Innocent people were tragically killed during this operation. We don’t know the exact number, but innocent people were killed and it’s heartbreaking. It’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 going through hell in this conflict because Hamas is acting in a way that puts them in the crossfire, holding hostages in the heart of overcrowded civilian areas,” he added. .
The Israeli army rescued four hostages during a special operation in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, which Gazan authorities said killed 236 people and injured more than 400 others.
CNN has no way of verifying the number of casualties reported by Palestinian officials in Gaza. Medical records from this war-torn enclave do not differentiate between civilians and militants killed. An Israeli army spokesperson put the number of casualties from the operation at “less than 100” and had no information on how many civilians were among them.
Pressed by Bash on whether the United States was comfortable with the way the mission was being conducted, Sullivan called for a diplomatic solution “in which there is no need for military operations to bring out the last hostage.”
“Unfortunately, we will continue to see ongoing conflicts and military operations in which Israel works to reclaim its citizens and, frankly, reclaim American citizens. What we would much prefer is a ceasefire in which the hostages come out peacefully,” he said.
CNN previously reported that a U.S. cell in Israel was supporting efforts to rescue the four Israeli hostages, but Sullivan would not comment further.
“The United States has provided support to Israel for several months in its efforts to identify the locations of the hostages in Gaza and to support efforts to secure their rescue or recovery,” he said, declining to provide operational or intelligence details. imported.
Sullivan added: “We did not participate militarily in this operation. »
The United States has not confirmed Hamas’ claims that other Israeli hostages held in Gaza were killed during the mission, but Sullivan said generally it was “always a risk,” before to advocate for the ceasefire agreement that President Joe Biden has been pushing for in recent days.
“The best way to bring all the hostages home and protect Palestinian civilians is to end this war. And the best way to end this war is for Hamas to say ‘yes’ to the agreement,” he said, calling it “the only credible path.”