Hamas still hostages nearly 1,000 Americans in Gaza as last US charter plane takes off from Israel

US State Department ends evacuation flights from Israel as Americans remain stranded

Hamas is blocking the exit of about 1,000 Americans who are trapped in Gaza amid the ongoing conflict with Israel, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday. He made the remarks at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, where he also announced the end of the State Department’s evacuation flights from Israel.

TOPSHOT - This picture taken on October 31, 2023 from a position along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel shows smoke plumes billowing during Israeli bombardment amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)(AFP)

Blinken said that there are about 400 US citizens and their families in Gaza, who have been unable to leave through the Rafah crossing, the main border point with Egypt. He said that Israel had advised Gazans to flee to Rafah to avoid its ground offensive, but Hamas has refused to let anyone out.

“We’re working with various parties to try to facilitate their departure from Gaza,” he said.

“The impediment is simple: it’s Hamas.”

Blinken said that the State Department has been in touch with the Americans in Gaza through phone calls, emails and WhatsApp messages, and has tried to guide them as best as it can. He said that the department has also been working with Egypt and Israel to find a way to get them out, but Hamas has not agreed.

“We’ve had occasions where we thought that we would be able to move forward … only to find that the necessary procedures that had to be put in place to actually make that work couldn’t go forward,” he said.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) told Blinken about an Oregon family that he is in contact with, who have tried to leave Gaza three times after receiving messages from the State Department, but each time they waited at Rafah until dark and nothing happened.

“They weren’t interfered with by Hamas, just the gate never opened,” Merkley said.

“With the trucks coming in [with humanitarian aid from Egypt], why can’t we at the same time … get those American families … out that gate?”

Blinken reiterated that Hamas controls what goes on inside Gaza, and unless it cooperates, it will be very difficult to get the Americans out.

Meanwhile, some Americans are still stranded in Israel after major airlines suspended their flights to and from the country following a massive Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that killed more than 1,400 people, including at least 33 US citizens.

The State Department started operating charter flights last week to evacuate Americans from Israel, but on Tuesday it said that it was the last scheduled flight, as only five passengers boarded a full-sized plane earlier this week.

However, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that the department could resume the flights if there is more demand.