Biden Spoke to Family of American Hostage Edan Alexander, U.S. Security Advisor Says: ‘Hamas is Feeling the Pressure’ | Video

The Biden White House has spoken to the family of American hostage Edan Alexander, who was taken captive along with 253 others during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel, said U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on “Face the Nation” Sunday. “I do think that Hamas is feeling the pressure. They’re feeling the pressure because one of their main partners in crime here, Hezbollah, has now cut a ceasefire deal,” he explained.

“They’re feeling the pressure, of course, because their top leader, Sinwar, has been killed. So, they may be looking anew at the possibility of getting a ceasefire and hostage deal,” Sullivan added. A 13-part ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel was announced last week.

Sullivan added that the Biden administration is “working actively with all of the key players in the region, including Israel and Turkey and Qatar and Egypt,” to bring to fruition a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas — one that will hopefully return the remaining hostages home and also end the war in the region.

President Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the same day the Hezbollah ceasefire was announced, Sullivan continued, “and Prime Minister Netanyahu told him he agreed, the time is right” for a similar agreement with Hamas.

On Oct. 25, the New York Times reported “dozens” of those taken captive in 2023 are still in Gaza. Of those, at least 60 are believed to be alive. Israeli authorities also believe the bodies of approximately 35 hostages who have died are still in Gaza as well. Of the total number of hostages, 12 people hold U.S. citizenship.

Hamas released a video of Alexander Saturday. The video is not dated, but appears to have been recorded sometime this week. In the video, Alexander asks President-elect Trump to assist in his rescue and the rescue of the remaining hostages.

Alexander’s mother Yael told NBC News, “To get this video, it’s a huge relief for me to see that he’s still strong. It was amazing. To see him speaking, crying, just to see him — like, I’m still shaking. He cried a lot in this video. It was very tough to see Edan like this. It was real. It was tough.”

The 20-year-old Alexander grew up in New Jersey and volunteered to serve in Israel’s military. He was stationed outside Gaza when he was taken hostage.

The Biden administration is also gravely concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where the city’s remaining citizens are starving to death. “The humanitarian situation in Gaza is a crisis. You have too many people who are suffering from shortages of food, water, medicine, access to sanitation. Innocent people who deserve a measure of peace and deserve access to all of those lifesaving supplies in abundance,” Sullivan explained.

He added that a major problem for the city right now is that while aid is moving into Gaza, it’s proven difficult to allocate it through the appropriate channels once inside the city. “The UN, in fact, said it was suspending movement from certain areas of Gaza because of concerns about looting. These are all things that would be helped if there were a ceasefire in place,” Sullivan added.

In September, the Norwegian Refugee Council published a press release co-signed by 15 aid organizations, who claimed that up to 83% of aid intended for Gaza could not enter the city. “While Israeli military attacks on Gaza intensify, lifesaving food, medicine, medical supplies, fuel, and tents have been systematically blocked from entering for almost a year,” the organizations wrote.

The decrease in aid means that people can count on one meal every other day, the organizations also stated. Additionally, 65% of insulin needed is not available, half the blood supply Gaza needs cannot be accessed, and at least one million women cannot access hygienic items they need.

You can watch the interview with Jake Sullivan in the video above.

The post Biden Spoke to Family of American Hostage Edan Alexander, U.S. Security Advisor Says: ‘Hamas is Feeling the Pressure’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.