National security adviser Jake Sullivan blamed Hamas for stopping United States citizens in the Gaza Strip from fleeing the territory into Egypt.
Sullivan said in a Sunday interview with CNN's State of the Union that the U.S. has asked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to open the border for U.S. citizens, but the situation at the Rafah crossing — the sole passage point between Egypt and Gaza — is "more complicated."
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"The Egyptians have, in fact, agreed to allow Americans to depart to get safe passage through the Rafah crossing. The Israelis agreed to ensure that the area around there would be safe, at least as far as they were able to do so," Sullivan said. "The question when we tried to move a group yesterday was actually Hamas taking steps to try and stop that from happening."
Sullivan tells Tapper that Hamas is preventing American citizens from crossing from the Gaza Strip into Egypt pic.twitter.com/UjNYHFXQwr
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 15, 2023
Hamas, a Palestinian militant group named a terrorist organization by the U.S., attacked Israel early on Oct. 7 in the largest assault on Jewish people since the Holocaust. So far, the death toll has surpassed over 3,600 people on both sides.
Among the dead are also 29 Americans, with 15 U.S. citizens still missing or unaccounted for, according to the State Department. The department announced on Friday that the U.S. government is arranging charter flights to help citizens and their immediate family members safely depart Israel.
The U.S. Embassy in Israel announced Sunday that it will plan to evacuate Americans by sea on Monday morning.
Sullivan said the U.S. is also doing "all that we can" to make sure U.S. citizens in Gaza can get through the border crossing. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Egypt on Sunday, meeting with Sisi to discuss getting Americans out of Gaza, which Sullivan said for Blinken is at the "top of his list."
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"Anyone who is a U.S. citizen should have the right to free passage through there and then have the U.S. government facilitate their travel home," Sullivan said.
The Israeli government ordered a "total siege" of Gaza last week, cutting off its population of nearly 2 million from access to electricity, food, and fuel. However, Sullivan said on Sunday that he was informed this morning that Israel has restored water service in southern Gaza.