Kirby: Israel-Hamas Talks Fell Apart Because of Hamas, 8 Americans Still Being Held
National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby joined George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday with an update regarding the status of the Israel-Hamas war and the breakdown in talks regarding an extended ceasefire and the return of additional hostages.
Kirby placed the blame for the breakdown of the talks squarely on Hamas. He also spoke to the number of hostages and the unusual lengths to which Israel is going in an effort to minimize civilian casualties.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So the ceasefire and hostage negotiations have collapsed. Is there anything going on behind the scenes to get them back on track?
KIRBY: Yes, sir. We're working at this literally by the hour at the National Security Council and all the way up the high levels of the administration to try to see, hour by hour, if we can get these discussions back going...forward, to see if we can get the pause back in place and get the hostages out. But there's a constant effort on the United States side to engage with our allies and partners to do exactly that.
STEPHANOPOULOS: It sounds like both Israel and Hamas have given up on it.
KIRBY: Well, for right now, neither side is willing to come back to the table. And I think it's important to remember, George, how this fell apart. It fell apart because Hamas was unwilling and refused to come up with additional lists of women and children — which we know they are holding — and put them on the list so that Israel could evaluate that and we could get them exchanged.
I do want to say one thing that hasn't stopped, and that is the humanitarian assistance going into Gaza. Now, the pause allowed us to increase that level. We are working with the Israelis to see if we can keep it at that increased level that we achieved over the last week continuing to go in — food, water, medicine, and even fuel continues to get into Gaza.
Though it's been hard to pin down exact numbers, Kirby confirmed that there are still Americans being held hostage.
STEPHANOPOULOS: What exactly do we know about how many hostages remain, particularly Americans?
KIRBY: Well, particularly on Americans, we think the number is about eight. We don't have perfect visibility on where they all are. We certainly don't have perfect visibility on their physical or mental condition. We're trying to do that as best we can. But it's about eight.
And now, we also believe that the total population left is somewhere in the neighborhood of about 140.
Kirby was also asked about efforts to minimize civilian casualties as the fighting resumes, in light of recent remarks by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
STEPHANOPOULOS: We've seen those warnings from Vice President Harris and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about civilian casualties. Any sense that Israel is heeding those warnings?
KIRBY: Yes, sir. We believe that they have been receptive to our messages here, in terms of trying to minimize civilian casualties. And I would tell you, we saw that as they went into North Gaza. They did it in a more precise way, a smaller way. And just in the last 24-48 hours, George, they published online a map of places where people could go to avoid combat, and where they could go where they could find safety from combat. There's not a whole lot of modern militaries that would do that. I mean, that — to telegraph their punches in that way. So they are making an effort.
Of note, ABC overlayed that portion of the exchange with images of injured, distraught Palestinians — almost as if attempting to undercut Kirby's response. Make of that what you will...
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