美国总统乔·拜登周一证实，至少有11名美国人在袭击中丧生在以色列战斗并认为更多的人可能被哈马斯扣为人质。
“这令人心痛，”拜登在一份声明中说。"这些家庭被不可原谅的仇恨和暴力拆散了。"
拜登说，他的政府知道其他美国公民失踪，他们正在与以色列官员合作，以了解更多关于他们的下落，但他没有详细说明随着冲突的加剧，有多少美国人下落不明。
拜登说:“美国公民的安全——无论是在国内还是国外——是我作为总统的首要任务。
“虽然我们仍在努力确认，但我们相信美国公民可能就在被哈马斯扣押的人当中，”他继续说道。“我已经指示我的团队在人质危机的各个方面与以色列同行合作，包括分享情报和部署来自美国政府各部门的专家，就解救人质的努力与以色列同行进行磋商并提供建议。”
周一晚些时候，白宫表示，拜登将于美国东部时间周二下午1点就这场危机发表讲话。
2023年10月7日，华盛顿，美国总统乔·拜登在白宫国宴厅就以色列发生的恐怖袭击发表讲话。
塞缪尔·科勒姆/盖蒂图片社
拜登周一没有公开活动，这引起了一些共和党人的批评，尽管白宫表示，他正在与他的政府成员会面，并与亲密盟友交谈。
当天早些时候，众议员凯文·麦卡锡举行了一次新闻发布会，就美国应该如何应对提出了一个“五点计划”，他说，营救任何美国人质都应该是政府的“首要任务”
麦卡锡说:“本届政府还必须明确，伤害任何一个美国人都会招致美国的愤怒。”。“我们不能重复在阿富汗发生的事情。必须明确的是，我们不与恐怖分子谈判，没有一个美国人会被落下。”
自周六哈马斯发动突袭以来，以色列已有900多人死亡，2500人受伤。以色列国防军此前表示，至少有100人失踪，哈马斯周一威胁说，除非以色列停止在没有警告的情况下炮击加沙地带的房屋，否则他们将开始杀害人质。
白宫发言人约翰·柯比(John Kirby)在接受美国广播公司(ABC)新闻直播节目主持人林西·戴维斯(Linsey Davis)采访时表示，美国政府仍无法确认人质中有美国人，但在过去几个小时里，他们一直与以色列官员保持着“持续接触”。
“我们真的不知道他们是否只是在某个地方失踪了，或者迷路了，或者他们是否被扣为人质，”柯比在谈到下落不明的美国人时说。“我认为我们必须接受这样的可能性，至少其中一些人被哈马斯扣为人质。”
“我们现在还没有好的、可靠的答案，”他补充道。
Kirby在较早前出现在美国有线电视新闻网上时，在讨论被绑架的儿童和年轻妇女的照片时变得情绪激动。
“对不起，打扰了，杰克，看着这些画面和人类的损失真的很难，”科比哽咽了几秒钟后说道。“这些是人，他们是家庭成员，他们是朋友，他们是亲人，表兄弟，兄弟，姐妹。是啊，很难。”
Biden says it's 'likely' Americans are among Hamas hostages; 11 killed in conflict
President Joe Biden on Monday confirmed at least 11 Americans have been killed in thefighting in Israel, and believes more may have been taken hostage by Hamas.
"It's heart wrenching," Biden said in a statement. "These families have been torn apart by inexcusable hatred and violence."
Biden said his administration is aware other U.S. citizens are missing and that they are working with Israeli officials to learn more about their whereabouts, though he didn't elaborate on how many Americans are unaccounted for as the conflict rages.
"The safety of American citizens -- whether at home or abroad -- is my top priority as President," Biden said.
"While we are still working to confirm, we believe it is likely that American citizens may be among those being held by Hamas," he continued. "I have directed my team to work with their Israeli counterparts on every aspect of the hostage crisis, including sharing intelligence and deploying experts from across the United States government to consult with and advise Israeli counterparts on hostage recovery efforts."
Late Monday, the White House said Biden would make remarks on the crisis at 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
Biden had no public events on Monday, drawing criticism from some Republicans, although the White House said he was meeting with members of his administration and speaking with close allies.
Earlier in the day, Rep. Kevin McCarthy held a press conference to propose a "five-point plan" for how the U.S. should respond -- in which he said rescuing any American hostages should be the administration's "first priority."
"This administration must also make clear that harming any American will really result in the wrath of the United States," McCarthy said. "We cannot repeat what happened in Afghanistan. It must be clear that we do not negotiate with terrorists and no American will be left behind."
More than 900 people have died in and 2,500 injured in Israel since Saturday's surprise attacks from Hamas. Israeli Defense Forces previously said at least 100 people are missing, and on Monday Hamas threatened they will start killing hostages unless Israel stops shelling homes in Gaza without warning.
White House spokesman John Kirby, in an interview with ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis, said the administration has still not been able to confirm that Americans are among the hostages, but have remained in "constant touch" with Israeli officials in the last few hours.
"We don't really know whether they're just missing somewhere, or are lost, or whether they're being held hostage," Kirby said of the Americans whose whereabouts are unknown. "I think we have to accept the possibility that at least some of them are being held hostage by Hamas."
"We just don't have good, solid answers right now," he added.
Kirby, during an earlier appearance on CNN, became emotional when discussing the images of children kidnapped and young women abducted.
"Sorry, excuse me, it's very difficult to look at these images Jake and the human cost," Kirby said after choking up for several seconds. "And these are human beings, they're family members, they're friends, they're loved ones, cousins, brothers, sisters. Yeah, it's difficult."
