It was just reported by Senator Marsha Blackburn that Hamas is holding nearly 500 Americans hostage in Gaza.
Here’s the tweet:
The White House admitted Hamas is holding nearly 500 Americans hostage in Gaza.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) October 31, 2023
Open Source Intelligence Monitor seeks to clarify the tweet by Blackburn:
I think this is meant to say that Hamas is not allowing for 500 American Nationals currently in the Gaza Strip to leave for Egypt, I don’t think she is saying that there are actually 500 Americans being held as Hostages by Hamas.
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) October 31, 2023
But as one person suggests, isn’t that essentially the same thing as hostages?
Isn’t it the same, though?
— Rafasa (@1Rafasa) October 31, 2023
Maybe they aren’t underground in a terror tunnel being held at armed guard, but if they aren’t being allowed to leave they are still being held hostage. It’s the same with all the Palestinians who want to leave which Hamas won’t allow.
And honestly, why would Hamas let the Americans go? They want to put as much pressure on America and Israel as they can. Trapping 500 Americans in Gaza gives them big time leverage over Biden, who they know is weak, and they’ll use that to try and and get him stop the ground war from continuing.