美国仍然致力于“正在进行的谈判”，以释放据信被哈马斯扣押的人质在加沙，官员们努力寻找9名失踪的美国人极端组织10月7日对以色列的恐怖袭击，白宫国家安全顾问周日表示。
杰克·沙利文对美国广播公司“本周”节目主持人乔纳森·卡尔说:“以色列人和卡塔尔人正在进行谈判，我们美国也在积极参与谈判，因为我们希望确保将那些被劫持的美国人和所有其他人质带回家。”
当卡尔问及人质总数时，沙利文说美国没有一个“精确的数字”
“我们知道失踪人数，这是以色列给出的数字。但我们不知道其中有多少还活着，”沙利文说。“就美国人而言，有九名美国公民失踪，还有一名合法的永久居民(绿卡持有者)失踪。”
沙利文继续说:“这是我们试图确保安全返回的人数，我们一直在与这些家庭接触。事实上，下周我将亲自会见美国人质的家人。”
卡尔还问沙利文，美国是否相信哈马斯声称的一些人质被杀害以色列在加沙的报复性袭击.
沙利文回答说:“首先，我们不相信哈马斯所说的话，但我们没有任何信息可以证实或抵消这一点。”。“所以正如我之前所说，我们根本不知道有多少人质仍然活着，有多少人受到虐待，有多少哈马斯自己杀害了数以百计的人，就像它在10月7日进行那些可怕的恐怖袭击时屠杀了数百人一样。”
据美联社(Associated Press)报道，以色列官员周六表示，仅在一个多月前的恐怖袭击中，就有“约1200人”被哈马斯武装分子杀害。这个总数比早先的大约1400人有所修正。
在“本周”的另一个节目中，纽约州共和党众议员迈克·劳勒(Mike Lawler)和佛罗里达州民主党众议员贾里德·莫斯科维茨(Jared Moskowitz)谈到了他们最近的以色列之行，他们在采访前会见了以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡(Benjamin Netanyahu)。
劳勒说:“我们进行了一次非常深思熟虑的谈话，讨论了国会向以色列提供援助的必要性，以及我们对该地区最亲密盟友的支持和承诺。”。
莫斯科维茨还谈到了寻找加沙俘虏的努力。“没有太多好的选择。人质在很多地方，有些在隧道里，有些不在隧道里，”他说，随后补充道，“他们正在制定几个寻找人质的计划。我不想谈论细节，但显然，这是当务之急。”
沙利文在采访中被问及加沙的医疗设施，像现在处于一些战斗中心的Al-Shifa医院，是否已经成为合法的军事目标，因为以色列说哈马斯已经在他们下面修建了隧道以便运作。
沙利文说，美国不希望看到任何医院爆发“交火”，但他强调，有许多公开的迹象表明，哈马斯利用平民区“储存武器，用于指挥和控制，为其战士提供住所。”
他称这“违反了战争法”
2023年10月10日，国家安全顾问杰克·沙利文在白宫发表讲话。
阿纳多卢图片社
尽管如此，沙利文说，美国不希望出现“无辜的人、无助的人、寻求医疗护理的人陷入交叉火力之中”的局面。
他说:“这只是表明这次军事行动有多困难，因为哈马斯的行动方式给以色列增加了负担，但是这并没有减轻他们保护平民的责任。”。
以色列军方官员坚持说，他们没有以医院为目标，并表示他们正在采取措施帮助病人离开Al-Shifa。
据哈马斯控制的加沙卫生部称，超过11，000人在加沙丧生。周五，国务卿安东尼·布林肯称死亡人数已经太高了
布林肯在对该地区进行了为期几天的访问后说:“过去几周，太多的巴勒斯坦人被杀害，太多的人遭受痛苦，我们希望尽一切可能防止他们受到伤害，并最大限度地向他们提供援助。”。“为此，我们将继续与以色列讨论推进这些目标的具体步骤。”
周日，卡尔问沙利文以色列是否做了足够的事情来防止平民伤亡，沙利文引用了布林肯的评论。沙利文重申，拜登总统、布林肯和他本人已经让以色列人深刻感受到对平民的关注。
沙利文对卡尔说:“失去一个无辜的生命是一场悲剧，无论是巴勒斯坦人还是以色列人，还是任何人，我们都为每一个无辜的人感到悲伤。”。"我们相信生命的神圣。"
“所以他们正在采取措施试图追捕恐怖分子。他们有义务将恐怖分子与无辜的巴勒斯坦平民区分开来。
莫斯科维茨和劳勒在他们自己的采访中说，以色列有权针对哈马斯进行自卫。虽然劳勒说应该提供人道主义救援，但他支持以色列在加沙针对哈马斯的大规模军事行动。
“对于那些呼吁停火的人来说，他们完全误解了这里的局势，”他说。“哈马斯不是会遵守停火的某个人或某个组织。他们铁了心要根除以色列国。”
然而，展望未来，沙利文说，冲突不应该随着以色列重新占领加沙而结束。
他说:“我们将与我们所有的伙伴合作，与以色列人合作，与阿拉伯世界的国家合作，特别是与巴勒斯坦人合作，这样他们就可以对约旦河西岸和加沙地带的未来治理发表意见。”。
9 Americans still missing after Hamas attack as hostage negotiations continue: Sullivan
The U.S. remains committed to "ongoing negotiations" for the release ofhostages believed to be held by Hamasin Gaza as officials work to find nine Americans still missing in the wake of theextremist group's Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel, the White House's national security adviser said on Sunday.
"There are ongoing negotiations involving the Israelis, the Qataris, and we, the United States, are actively engaged in this as well because we want to make sure that we bring home those Americans who have been taken hostage as well as all of the other hostages," Jake Sullivan told ABC "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl.
Pressed by Karl on the total number of hostages, Sullivan said America doesn't have a "precise number."
"We know the number of missing and that's the number the Israelis have given. But we don't know how many of those are still alive," Sullivan said. "As far as the Americans are concerned, there are nine missing American citizens as well as a missing legal permanent [resident], a green card holder."
Sullivan continued: "That's the number that we are trying to ensure the safe return of, and we have been engaging with the families. In fact, I will personally be seeing family members of the American hostages this coming week."
Karl also asked Sullivan if the U.S. believes Hamas' claim that a number of hostages were killed inIsraeli retaliatory strikes in Gaza.
"Well, first, we don't take anything Hamas says at face value, but we have no information that can either corroborate or counteract that," Sullivan replied. "So as I said before, we simply don't know how many of the hostages are still alive, how many have been mistreated, how many Hamas itself has killed just as it slaughtered hundreds and hundreds of people when it conducted those gruesome and horrific terrorist attacks on Oct. 7."
According to the Associated Press, Israeli officials said Saturday that "around 1,200" were killed by Hamas militants in the terrorist attack just over a month ago. That total was revised from an earlier figure of about 1,400.
In a separate appearance on "This Week," Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., spoke about their recent trip to Israel, where they met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prior to the interview.
"We engaged in a very thoughtful conversation about the need for Congress to pass aid to Israel and our support and our commitment to our closest ally in the region," Lawler said.
Moskowitz also touched on the efforts to find the captives in Gaza. "There are not a lot of good options. The hostages are in a number of places, some are in the tunnels, some are not in the tunnels," he said, later adding, "They're working on several plans to locate the hostages. I don't want to go into details of that, but obviously, that is a top priority."
Sullivan, in his interview, was asked if medical facilities in Gaza, like the Al-Shifa hospital now at the center of some of the fighting, have become legitimate military targets considering Israel says Hamas has built tunnels underneath them in order to operate.
Sullivan said the U.S. does not want to see a "firefight" break out at any hospital but he stressed that there are many publicly available indications that Hamas uses civilian areas "to store weapons, for command and control, to house its fighters."
He called that "a violation of the laws of war."
Nonetheless, Sullivan said the United States doesn't want a situation "where innocent people, helpless people, people seeking medical care are caught in the crossfire."
"This just points [to] how difficult this military operation is, because Israel has an added burden given the way that Hamas operates -- but it does not lessen their responsibility to protect civilians," he added.
Israeli military officials have maintained that they do not target hospitals and have said they're taking steps to help patients leave Al-Shifa.
More than 11,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. On Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the death toll was already too high
"Far too many Palestinians have been killed, far too many have suffered these past weeks, and we want to do everything possible to prevent harm to them and to maximize the assistance that gets to them," Blinken said after a multi-day trip to the region. "To that end, we'll be continuing to discuss with Israel concrete steps that can be taken to advance these objectives."
Sullivan on Sunday was pressed by Karl on whether Israel was doing enough to prevent civilian casualties, referencing Blinken's comments. Sullivan reiterated that concerns for civilians have been impressed upon the Israelis by President Joe Biden, Blinken and himself.
"The loss of a single innocent life is a tragedy, whether it's Palestinian or Israeli or anyone and we grieve for every lost innocent," Sullivan told Karl. "We believe in the sanctity of life."
"And so they are taking measures to try to go after the terrorists. It's their obligation to do so in a way that separates the terrorists from innocent Palestinian civilians," Sullivan said.
Moskowitz and Lawler, in their own interview, said that Israel had a right to defend itself against Hamas. While Lawler said humanitarian relief should be provided, he supported Israel's expansive military operations in Gaza against Hamas.
"For those calling for a cease-fire, they totally misunderstand the situation here," he said. "Hamas is not someone, some organization that is going to abide by a cease-fire. They are hell-bent on eradicating the state of Israel."
Looking to the future, however, Sullivan said the conflict should not end with an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza.
"We will work with all of our partners, with the Israelis, with countries in the Arab world and especially with the Palestinians, so that they can have a voice in what the future governance of both the West Bank and Gaza look like," he said.
