Jake Sullivan says the US helped Israel’s hostage rescue mission without sending troops to the field

In a series of interviews broadcast on major cable and broadcast networks on Sunday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan urged both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to agree to President Joe Biden’s three phases of end the war in Gaza.

Sullivan’s appearances – on ABC This week, CBS Face the nation It is state of the Union on CNN – occurred the morning after an operation led by the Israel Defense Forces rescued four Israeli hostages from a refugee camp in central Gaza. The military operation resulted in 274 deaths and injured another 698 people, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Israel’s military spokesman, Daniel Hagari, however, estimated there was less of 100 victims.

Saturday’s rescue mission was described by Reuters as “one of the bloodiest Israeli attacks” since the October 7 attacks, which left around 1,200 people dead in Israel.

O Associated Press reports that 36,379 Palestinians and Israelis were killed in Gaza in the eight-month conflict, according to data of the Gaza Ministry of Health, administered by Hamas. Another 84,000 were injured.

Here are some key takeaways from Sullivan’s back-to-back interviews on Sunday.

The US helped Israel with the hostage rescue mission – but had no forces on the ground.

Sullivan said the U.S. assisted in Saturday’s mission to rescue four Israeli hostages, all kidnapped during the Oct. 7 attacks, but offered few specific details about U.S. involvement.

“I can only say that, in general, we have provided support to [Israel Defense Force] so we can try to get all the hostages home, including the American hostages who are still being held,” he said. state of the Union host Dana Bash. There are currently eight US citizens being held hostage in Gaza.

Although the U.S. had been working with Israel on the mission “for months,” Sullivan said This week presenter Martha Raddatz that no US troops were sent to participate in the operation.

“We didn’t have any U.S. forces on the ground,” he said.

Israel and Hamas failed to agree on ceasefire

Sullivan said Meet the press host Margaret Brennan that neither Israel nor Hamas agreed to Biden’s three-phase plan to end the war in Gaza. He hopes they can reach an agreement before Netanyahu addresses Congress on July 24 – putting the onus on Hamas to take the first step.

“The whole world is waiting for Hamas to say yes,” he told Brennan, adding that the US is in constant contact with Qatar and Egypt, which act as “mediators” between the US and Hamas during the ceasefire negotiations. fire.

Hamas initially expressed a willingness to move forward with the ceasefire plan, while Netanyahu said he would only move forward after Hamas was completely destroyed.

Hamas is making it “impossible” to avoid civilian casualties

Sullivan said Hamas’ military tactics have placed innocent people in an “impossible situation,” making it difficult for Israel’s allies to advance rescue efforts without risking civilian lives.

“Hamas hides among the civilian population, holds hostages among the civilian population, shoots the IDF from behind the civilian population,” he told Raddatz in This week.

IDF spokesman Peter Lerner, who also appeared on This week Sunday offered additional context about the degree to which Hamas compromises the lives of civilians — including hiding hostages in residential buildings. He told Raddatz that Hamas attacked the IDF as they tried to extract the hostages on Saturday, which he said led Israel to respond with several airstrikes in self-defense, causing more casualties than previously anticipated.

“The tragedy of the civilians involved in this is precisely due to the way Hamas fights us on the battlefield,” said Lerner.

The US supports Israel despite concerns about humanitarian crimes

Sullivan referred to the latest US State Department report highlighting possible humanitarian crimes committed by Israel against Palestinians, telling Brennan there is “enough information to be concerned” about Israel’s military tactics.

He later told Raddatz that the US stands with Israel, despite multiple warnings to Netanyahu that Israel should take “extra precautions” when it comes to protecting civilians.

“The U.S. will support Israel in taking steps to try to rescue hostages that are currently held by Hamas and we will continue to work with Israel to do so,” Sullivan said, stressing that “Israel has the right to go after Hamas. ”

“We have said all along that Israel must operate in a way that is not only consistent with the laws of war, but must take extra precautions to try to protect civilians,” he continued. “We see individual incidents where we talk about where we would like them to operate differently, where we would like them to be more precise and more targeted in their operations. And we will continue to talk about these issues.”