Sen. Blackburn: WH Must Declare Americans in Gaza Hostages

The Biden administration must formally declare the approximately 500 Americans and their family members who are trapped in Gaza as hostages under federal law, Sen. Marsha Blackburn said Wednesday.

“Hamas is holding approximately 500 Americans hostage," the Tennessee Republican said in a statement. "The Biden administration needs to formally declare these individuals hostages and explain to the American people how they are working to secure their release without appeasing Hamas. We cannot be in a situation where the U.S. government is giving into the demands of terrorists.”

According to multiple reports, Hamas authorities are denying the Americans the freedom to leave Gaza. The exact number of Americans being held has not been made clear.

Others, however, say the number is as high as 500, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Senate Committee on Appropriations Tuesday that there are "about 400 American citizens and their family members" and that there are "roughly 1,000 people who are stuck in Gaza and want to get out."

Several foreign affairs experts said they agree with Blackburn.

"It looks like this situation is turning into a US hostage case under 18 U.S. CODE 1203, Robert O'Brien, a former United States national security advisor and special envoy for hostage affairs, commented.

In addition, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Ric Grenell also said he agrees with the senator.

"When a terrorist organization won’t let 500 people with American passports leave, then they are being held against their desire or will," he said. "It doesn’t matter where they live or where they want to go. They are detained Americans. Pretending that Hamas isn’t really holding them is the lie."

Meanwhile, some Americans were among those evacuated from the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller confirmed during a briefing Wednesday, NBC News reported.

On Wednesday Blackburn also called for National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to resign over the issue.

Sullivan told CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday that Washington is working to secure the safe passage of any American who wants to leave Gaza.

"We are in regular contact with most of the Americans who are in Gaza. We can't say every single one, but all of the ones who reach out to us we follow up with on a regular basis, even sometimes a daily basis," he said.

However, he acknowledged that "Hamas is preventing their departure and making a series of demands. We're trying to work through that to create a circumstance where all of the Americans who are in Gaza are able to get out. It is a priority for the president. He has no higher priority than their safe passage out and he will continue to work at it until it is accomplished."