President Joe Biden has come under fire on social media after no Americans were included in the 24 hostages released by Hamas on Friday during a temporary ceasefire.
Hamas fighters seized around 240 hostages and killed 1,200 people in a surprise attack on southern Israel, which began in the early morning of October 7. Israel responded with an air and ground offensive that has killed more than 12,700 Palestinians, the Associated Press reported, citing the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
On Friday, Hamas freed 13 Israelis as part of a deal that should see 50 hostages released during a four day ceasefire, in return for 150 Palestinian women and children being held in Israeli jails and more humanitarian aid. The first 39 Palestinians were freed in return whilst Hamas also released 10 Thai citizens and one Filipino who had been working in Israel.
However, none of those released on Friday were American, sparking some conservative anger against Biden who has enthusiastically supported the agreement that he said would “bring home additional American hostages.”
Newsweek has reached out to the White House press office for comment by email.
Reacting to the lack of freed Americans on X, formerly Twitter, conservative commentator Carmine Sabia wrote: “President Joe Biden is said to have brokered the deal for the hostages with Israel and Hamas and somehow no Americans were included. This man is senile.”
Graham Allen, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, with 390,000 X followers, posted: “How do I know Joe Biden is weak? NO AMERICANS were released today. If it were Trump, they would’ve had thanksgiving with their families.”
Podcaster Alec Lace commented: “Apparently no Americans are being released in the hostage deal between Hamas and Israel which Biden claimed to broker! NEVER FORGET: Biden traded away the Merchant of Death for an anti-American basketball player.”
This was a reference to the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner from Russian captivity in December 2022 in return for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who had been in American custody.
Meanwhile, Phil Holloway, a columnist for the conservative commentary website Townhall, shared a news article about the hostages being released and wrote on X: “Biden is going to try to take credit isn’t he….Israel did all the heavy lifting, not Biden. Also, why were no Americans released? Until Americans are released, Biden needs to keep quiet.”
Speaking to NBC News earlier on Friday, a senior White House official said they weren’t expecting any American hostages to be released in the first batch, but expressed hope some could be in the coming days.
“We do not expect Americans to be among the first group released today but remain hopeful that there will be Americans among the 50 released,” the official said.
Speaking after the hostages were released, Biden commented: “We expect more hostages to be released tomorrow. And more the day after, and more the a day after that. Over the next few days, we expect that dozens of hostages will be returned to their families.”
The president added that the agreement had been “reached by extensive U.S. diplomacy,” and said he “will not stop” until all the hostages held in Gaza by Hamas are returned home.
Whilst the exact figure hasn’t been officially confirmed, an investigation by The Daily Beast earlier this month concluded that at least 10 Americans had been kidnapped by Hamas. This doesn’t include Judith and Natalie Raanan, two Americans who were released by Hamas on October 20.
MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/GETTY
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.