While seeking to take a victory lap for returning two American hostages previously held by Hamas last week, the National Security Council's John Kirby still couldn't say how many U.S. citizens remain held by Hamas terrorists during Monday's White House press briefing.
Calling the Biden administration's efforts to free American hostages an "hour-by-hour" task, Kirby said it's "impossible for us to publicly detail what's going on" but said "there's just a lot of effort going on...a lot of conversations." Still, Kirby could not provide a concrete number of Americans currently held by Hamas after being abducted more than two weeks ago during the surprise massacre launched from the Gaza Strip on October 7. "The numbers" of hostages, Kirby said, "have fluctuated."
"We still have about ten unaccounted-for Americans," Kirby said, "about a handful...that's really as detailed as I think I should get."
In addition to not knowing or being unwilling to say how many Americans remain hostages of Hamas terrorists inside the Gaza Strip, Kirby was — unsurprisingly — unable to promise that U.S. taxpayer-funded aid, supposedly for civilians in the Gaza Strip, would not end up diverted by Hamas and used to advance their terrorism.
"We're not on the ground to personally inspect these things, but we do have trusted partners on the ground, including the UN, who will report what they're seeing," Kirby added.
"That's the way we do it in so many countries around the world where we don't have a footprint," he explained in an attempt to justify the lack of oversight or accountability for U.S. aid to Hamas-run Gaza.
So, taxpayer-funded aid to Gaza is being shipped off to the Gaza Strip where the U.S. has no presence and Hamas controls the government and most services. If (read: when, as it has done before) Hamas decides to divert the aid — to power its tunnel network, build more rockets, or feed and hydrate its fighters first — America will only know if the United Nations or other "trusted partners" tell us that taxpayer-funded aid was taken by Hamas, for which the terrorists will face no immediate consequence.
John Kirby on Gaza aid: "We're not on the ground to personally inspect these things, but we do have trusted partners on the ground including the UN who will report what they're seeing..."
— Spencer Brown (@itsSpencerBrown) October 23, 2023
That is: If taxpayer-funded aid to Gaza is diverted by Hamas, we'll only get a UN report. pic.twitter.com/EZF38WNSPA
Already, since Hamas terrorists launched their murderous attack against Israel, the "United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East" reported that individuals claiming to be from the Gaza "Ministry of Health of the de facto authorities (DFA)" showed up at the UN compound, loaded trucks with medical supplies and fuel, and took off.
Gazan authorities are, of course, Hamas — as is the entire government in Gaza — meaning health officials which would, in most other settings be working to help their citizens, are solely focused on terrorism. And, while the UN's taken supplies were supposedly "kept strictly" for "humanitarian purposes," so is the U.S. aid heading to Gaza.
As with the UN's own fuel and medical kits, there's nothing that can be done to stop Hamas from diverting the aid from the U.S. either. And, as Kirby admitted on Monday, the U.S. has no presence and zero ability to stop any aid entering Gaza from ending up aiding Hamas terrorists as they continue firing rockets amid their more than two-week attack on Israel.