Katy Tur Presses White House Spox On Evacuations of Americans From Gaza: ‘What’s the Holdup? What’s the Holdup?’
MSNBC’s Katy Tur pressed White House spokesperson John Kirby Monday on U.S. efforts to bring Americans home from Gaza where they’ve been stranded during the Israel-Hamas war.
“What can you tell us about the status of the Americans who were in Gaza, the American Palestinians visiting family, the ones who have not been able to get out?” Tur asked.
“We’re working on that very, very hard, too,” Kirby said, following a discussion on the efforts to free American hostages held by Hamas. “I wish I could tell you that at such-and-such a time that gate’s gonna get opened— ”
“What’s the holdup? What’s the holdup?” Tur interrupted.
Kirby answered that there were “regional security concerns” that U.S. officials were trying to work through.
“We have ambassador [David] Satterfield, the special envoy, whose whole job it is to get humanitarian assistance in and to see if we can get some of those Americans out. He’s working it on the ground as we speak. We hope that we’ll have some resolution soon so we can get those folks safe passage out, get them on their way, get them home,” Kirby said.
Tur challenged Kirby further.
“They say they don’t feel like the American government is prioritizing them. They see the planes out of Israel, they see the ships out of Israel to get Israeli Americans out. They don’t feel the same about their situation,” Tur said.
“Listen, I understand the fear and the anxiety that they’re having right now. I can’t say that I blame them, as many of them are sitting down there at the Rafah crossing waiting for the gate to open up. I understand what they’re going through, we understand what they’re going through. That’s why we’re working at really really hard. I can assure them and I can assure all your viewers that this is top priority for the administration. It’s complicated, it’s tough. It requires intense diplomacy and that is exactly what we are engaged in,” Kirby said.
Watch the clip above via MSNBC.
