MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Good afternoon, everyone.
Q Good afternoon.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I just want to take a moment to address the horrifying reports that continue to come out of Israel.
I know many of us in the room and at home are moms and dads. And regardless, we're all humans. We've heard stories of parents doing their best to shield their babies from danger. These reports are devastating. We are hearing the reports of entire families, innocents, who were killed in the safety of their homes.
We know that, so far, 22 Americans lost their lives and 17 remain unaccounted for. We know that these numbers are likely to increase in the days ahead.
As the President said this afternoon, this attack has brought to the surface painful memories and the scars left by millennia of antisemitism and genocide of the Jewish people.
And so, later this afternoon, the President will stop by a roundtable with Jewish community leaders, along with the Second Gentleman, Douglas Emhoff; National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan; Homeland Security Advisor Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall; Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden; and Steve Benjamin, Senior Advisor to the President for Public Engagement.
This roundtable discussion will focus on the Biden-Harris administration's unwavering support for Israel following the Hamas terrorist attacks and the implementation of President Biden's National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, which was released in May.
Today and every day, we are here to reafform — reaffirm the United States will to continue to have Israel's back.
And with that, Admiral John Kirby is here from the National Security Council to take any of your questions on the situation in Israel.
Go ahead, John.
MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Karine.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you.
MR. KIRBY: Appreciate that.
Good afternoon, everybody. As Karine noted, sadly, the numbers of Americans killed — murdered has climbed. And, you know, we have a better — a little bit better sense today of how many more Americans are — are unaccounted for or missing.
We know that a — a number of those Americans are being held hostage right now by Hamas. I think we all need to steel ourselves for the very distinct possibility that these numbers will — will keep increasing and that we may, in fact, find out that more Americans are part of the hostage pool.
So, as Karine said, our message to all these families affected is that, you know: We're with you. We're grieving with you. We're sorrowful with you. We're worrying with you. And we're going to do everything we can — particularly for those who don't know where a loved one is, to find out where they are and to get them home with you where they belong.
And that includes, of course, being willing to assist in advice or counsel when it comes to hostage-recovery efforts.
Now, of course, the Israelis have a very robust hostage-recovery capability of their own. Sadly, they have had — been forced to perfect that particular kind of capability. But we also have a lot of know-how too, and we're — we're offering to share that with the Israeli Defense Forces.
At the same time, we're sharing additional defense-related support. I think you saw that the Israeli military announced today, with some imagery, the first tranche of U.S. military assistance arriving in Israel. That will continue.
We also, as I think the President alluded to yesterday, were able to replenish some of their Iron Dome interceptor missiles. These were missiles that we already had in stock in Israel. We simply just transferred ownership over to the Israeli Defense Forces.
So, again, more aid, more assistance will be coming in coming days.
As you also know, the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and her strike group are now in the Eastern Mediterranean. They arrived yesterday. They are there for deterrence purposes to make it clear to any would-be actor, organization, group, terrorist network, nation-state — anybody who thinks that, with hostile intent towards Israel — that this is the time to widen and expand the conflict that we will take our national security interests seriously.
I would also note that the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier and her strike group will be departing on a prescheduled — long-scheduled deployment to the European Command area of responsibility. They'll start that deployment in the coming week or so. They will be going initially across the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean, where they will be available if needed.
No decisions have been made. I've seen some press reporting out there that — that we've already made some kind of final decision that a second carrier is going to be placed in the Eastern Med. No operational decisions like that have been made, but she will be heading in that direction, her ships will be with her, and she certainly will be an available asset if needed.
The bottom line is, as I said, we're sending a loud and clear message: The United States is ready to take action should any actor hostile to Israel consider trying to escalate or widen this war. And I think Jake said that pretty well yesterday.
We're also going to continue to talk to our Israeli partners about their needs to ensure, again, that they have what they require to defend their country and their people. And that's just not going to stop. In fact, it's almost an hourly conversation that we're having with our — our counterparts.
Now, I know many of you have been asking about or expressing some interest in the idea of safe passage in Gaza for civilians.
Let me just say right upfront: We're actively discussing this with our Israeli and our Egyptian counterparts. We support safe passage for civilians. The civilians are not to blame for what Hamas has done. They didn't do anything wrong, and we continue to support safe passage.
I don't have an announcement to make today. I can't tell you a specific route or a corridor. I just want to make it clear that we are actively working on this with our Egyptian and — and our Israeli counterparts.
Civilians are protected under Laws of Arm- — of Armed Conflict, and they should be given every opportunity to avoid the fighting.
Now, if I could switch to Ukraine just quickly. Today, the Secretary of Defense announced at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting over in Europe that the United States is announcing a new aid package, which includes air defense munitions; ammunition for U.S.-provided artillery and HIMARS; counter-UAS equipment — unmanned aerial systems, sorry — to help Ukraine protect their people against Russian and Iranian drone strikes. We're also announcing additional anti-armor capabilities and more than 16 million rounds of small arms and ammunition.
As Ukrainians continue to wage a very tough counteroffensive and as winter now fast approaches, we believe it is absolutely imperative — you heard me say before time is not our friend — that we continue to do everything we can to help Ukraine succeed on the battlefield and claw back some more of their own territory from Russian units on the ground there.
This military aid package that we're announcing today is another important signal of our continued commitment to supporting the Ukrainian people, and it utilizes funding authorities that Congress authorized for Ukraine during a prior fiscal year under the presidential drawdown authority.
We're obviously going to continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons and equipment they need, but it is absolutely critical that Congress keep its commitment to the people of Ukraine by providing additional funding. We are in active conversations with members of Congress about additional funding for Ukraine and for Israel. And it's critical, again, that, we believe, Congress sends a clear message to Putin, sends a clear message to the Israeli people that — that the United States continues to have their back.
And, with that, let me take some questions.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Aamer.
Q (Inaudible) John, ask just a little bit of a clarification on the 22 Americans who have unfortunately been killed. Were all those Americans killed believed to be killed by Hamas? Were all of them — all the killed in Israeli territory? Or do we know — do you know how many Americans have been killed inside Gaza?
MR. KIRBY: I'm afraid I don't. I mean, we know the number is accurate as of right now, but the individual circumstances are not exactly clear.
Q So, this group — 22 — it was in Isra- — in Israel that —
MR. KIRBY: I — I don't have the details on every single one. You could certainly consult the State Department. They might have a little bit higher touch because they're in touch — or I know they're trying to be in touch with all the families. But we don't have that information.
Q If I can just quickly — all signs suggest that Israel will begin a possible ground invasion relatively soon. I know you talked about safe passage, but has the U.S. done anything to dissuade Israel from moving ahead with a ground offensive?
And if it does move ahead, has the President or administration officials directly asked Israel to show restraint in how it goes about such an operation?
MR. KIRBY: We're going to let the Israelis talk about their military operations, particularly in the future tense. I mean, we don't even talk about our operations in the future tense.
So, I don't want to get ahead of where things are. And I certainly am not going to talk about Israeli military planning. So, I'll let them take that.
You heard the President talk about this a little bit yesterday the — this idea of — you were asking about restraint. I mean, nobody wants to see any more innocent life lost. None. Nobody, no matter who you are. If you're an innocent civilian, you didn't cause this. You didn't ask for this. And you shouldn't be having to fear for your life. Nobody wants to see that happen.
And I think it's important to remind that, especially on the Palestinian side, Hamas is directly endangering their lives: headquartering themselves in hospitals and schools, residential buildings, using the Palestinian people as human shields. They didn't ask for that either.
And Hamas doesn't speak for the majority of the Palestinian people or their aspirations for peace and security. I think that's an important place to start this conversation.
Unlike the United States, unlike Israel — as the President said yesterday — who have respect for the rule of law and the Law of Armed Conflict and respect for human life, Hamas has none. None at all.
So, again, we'll — we'll let the Israelis speak for their military operations. Our focus is squarely right now, in these still early hours — and they are early hours — is to make sure that the Ukraine — the Israelis have what they need.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Mary.
Q I just want to clarify the numbers here. I think, Karine, you just said that 17 Americans remain missing. Is that the latest number? I think, yesterday, you had said 20. I just want to make sure we're operating off of the same thing.
MR. KIRBY: There — there is 17 that are missing and — and 22 that are dead.
Q Okay. And is there anything you can share with us about — anything you know about the condition of the hostages? And also, has there been any kind of communication with Hamas, either directly or with our allies or partners, about securing their release? Is there any kind of receptiveness that they've shown even to talking about this issue?
MR. KIRBY: So, let me take the second one first. Obviously, we're in discussions not only with the Israelis about what hostage recovery could look like, but with other allies and partners in the region. And there are some countries, like Qatar, that have open lines of communication with — with Hamas.
So, of course, we're casting the net wide, as you would expect we would. We want to get these — all hostages back with their families, particularly the American hostages. No question about that.
Now, where they are and in what condition — no, sadly, we don't know. And that makes efforts very, very difficult — and again, in these early hours. But we don't know. We don't know where they are. We don't know if they're all in one group or broken up into several groups. We don't know if they're being moved and with what frequency and to what locations. All of those questions, we're working hard to answer.
Q And I'm sure you're casting a wide net, but has any communication actually been made with Hamas? I mean —
MR. KIRBY: I'm just going to leave it — leave the answer the way I gave it to you. I think, just like in any other case when we're talking about getting Americans home overseas that have been held hostage and wrongfully detained, the less you say out there publicly, the better.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Ed.
Q Thank you. Two on this region and then one on another in this hemisphere that I know some outlets in this room have questions about.
First, on the humanitarian corridor, is it accurate that the Egyptians have rejected calls to allow for one?
MR. KIRBY: I think you'd have to talk to the Egyptian authorities on that one.
Q Have the talks continued or —
MR. KIRBY: We — we believe that safe passage is important. And we want to see safe pass- — a safe passage corridor opened up.
We also believe it's important that humanitarian assistance have a way to continue to get to the Palestinian people. And as Jake mentioned yesterday, we're in active discussions with the Israelis and with the Egyptians about that.
Q There's, of course, this ongoing intelligence assessment and now political debate over Iran: what it knew, what it may have done to support Hamas in all of this.
Even if there's no direct evidence linking Iran to this specific attack right now, does the U.S. believe Iran needs to pay some kind of a price or there be some kind of retribution for having supported Hamas all along up to this point?
MR. KIRBY: (Laughs.) I mean, the question almost — and I'm not picking on you, Ed, but it implies that — that we're just now waking up to the fact that they've been supporting Hamas and Hezbollah and other terrorist networks. That — that — Hamas is one of the most highly sanctioned terrorist networks on the planet, largely because of what we've been doing here in the United States to target them.
And Iran — my goodness, just since the beginning of this administration, we have sanctioned some 400-plus entities with more than 40 set — different sets of sanctions regimes, 30 of those just this past year alone.
We've increased our military presence in the — in the Gulf region because of their attacks on maritime shipping. We have sa- — added additional sanctions because of their support to Russia and the fact that they're still providing drones and technology to Mr. Putin so he can kill innocent Ukrainians. And now we've added our military capability. We've added to it from a naval perspective in the Eastern Med.
So, nobody has turned a blind eye to Iranian destabilizing behavior.
Now, I think what you're trying to get at is this particular set of attacks. What Jake said yesterday still holds: We obviously recognize that there's broad complicity here by the Iranians, I mean, because of the longstanding support to Hamas. Hamas wouldn't have been able to function at all had it not been for propping up by the Iranian regime.
But we haven't seen any specific evidence that tells us they were witting, involved in the planning, or involved in the resourcing and — and the training that went into this very complex set of attacks over the weekend.
Q There's one other — I mentioned an issue here in this hemisphere that there are outlets in this room, I know, are curious about. There have been several days now of protests in Guatemala that have essentially locked down parts of the country amid the ongoing protracted, difficult presidential transition.
Just curious if you can give us a sense of how the U.S. is monitoring that and whether it has any message for protesters who continue to hold up some parts of society, that have blocked gasoline and food shipments to parts of Guatemala.
MR. KIRBY: We certainly aren't going to involve ourselves in internal Guatemalan politics. We obviously believe in free and fair elections. We believe in democratic voices. And we certainly believe in the right of peaceful protest. People should have the right to protest whatever they want to do, as long as they do it peacefully and in a way that — that doesn't put others at harm. I think I'll leave it at that.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Jeff.
Q Thank you. John, you mentioned wanting to avoid actors in the region taking advantage of this. Can you give us a sense of who you think might take advantage of this that you're worried about? Is it —
MR. KIRBY: I think there's a unfortunately long list of actors in the region that are hostile to Israel. Hezbollah is one of them. And — and, you know, we've been watching with concern some of the rocket attacks that have come across the northern border of Israel from Lebanon, which obviously were coming from — from Hezbollah. So, we're — we're clearly concerned about that.
Q Are you concerned about Iran as well?
MR. KIRBY: We're always concerned about Iran. And Iran's hostility to Israel doesn't need any reaffirmation by — by us. It's — it's out there plain to see. So, yeah, of course, we're concerned about Iran.
Q You mentioned the humanitarian corridor, but more — just staying on the topic of the humanitarian issue, are you — how — what can be done? Or what is the U.S. doing to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza with the situation now about power, water, and food?
MR. KIRBY: Yeah, as I said, we believe that humanitarian assistance is important for the Palestinian people that live in Gaza. And we are going to continue to — to pursue options to make sure that they get that humanitarian assistance.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead.
Q Yeah, is — is the U.S. in conversation with the Palestinian Authority or the Palestinian community here in the U.S.?
MR. KIRBY: We have been routinely in — in communication with the — the Palestinian Authority. I don't have — or I don't — there's not meetings or discussions, you know, in recent hours that I can speak to. But we have long maintained an open line of communication with them.
Q How — does the U.S. also condemn, perhaps, potential war crimes Israelis are committing in — in Gaza against Gazans?
MR. KIRBY: Well, our focus right now is making sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against these attacks.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Peter.
Q If I can ask you, first, just about something that you referred to, which is the reported incursion into northern Israel. There have been reports from the IDF. Do you have any new information to share on that? There were reports of paragliders initially. Any other additional information about that?
MR. KIRBY: I've seen the reports. We've taken a quick look at them. We are not in a position to corroborate the validity of them. We have — what I talked about with Jeff was rocket attacks that we know —
Q Understood. We've seen those. Yeah.
MR. KIRBY: — have occurred in recent days.
Q Then, if I can, I just want to ask you separately about these hostages right now. Presumably 22 dead, at least 17 held hostage — not only the number of dead could rise —
MR. KIRBY: No, 17 that we know are missing.
Q Excuse me. Excuse me. Unaccounted for.
MR. KIRBY: And that number will fluctuate.
Q That number could rise?
MR. KIRBY: It could rise; it could go down. I mean, as people may be — they're found safe and — safe and sound. So —
Q Understood.
MR. KIRBY: — it's 17 today.
Q Understood. So, about those who remain hostages right now, has the President ruled out sending any American forces of any kind into Gaza at any time to help secure their release, if necessary to get them out safely?
MR. KIRBY: We haven't made any policy options or operational decisions with respect to hostage recovery at this time. We are in active —
Q So, nothing is ruled out?
MR. KIRBY: We haven't made any decisions about hostage recovery at this time. We just don't also have enough information, Peter, to be able to make decisions like that.
But you heard Jake yesterday say and — and the President has said: We'll do everything we can anywhere around the world to make sure that Americans held hostage have a path home and to be safe with their families.
