The White House is not ruling out rescue missions for Americans held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

National Security Spokesman John Kirby shared the remarks after the news that 11 Americans had been killed and others were held hostage by the terrorist group in Israel.

DAILY ON DEFENSE 🇺🇸—
US not ruling out commando mission to rescue American hostages held by Hamas in Gaza

DETAILS: https://t.co/QOBWTlwYSO https://t.co/QOBWTlwYSO

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) October 10, 2023

The response

“We take the safety and security of Americans overseas very, very seriously," Kirby said.

"And you have seen us act as efficiently and effectively as we can to get Americans that are being held hostage or wrongfully detained, in some cases, back home with their families. We will continue to do that in this case as well,” he added.

American special forces on standby to rescue Americans taken by Hamas per reporthttps://t.co/91iq1bpBU2

— Kassy Dillon (@KassyDillon) October 11, 2023

Forces on standby

"The United States is readying its special forces to help Israel locate American hostages, as waves of Israeli Defense Force reservists arrived at JFK airport in New York to join the fight against Hamas," the Daily Mail reported.

"Two senior U.S. military officials told The Messenger that 'door kickers' have been put on standby in a nearby European country, ready to assist Israel if necessary in their battle against Hamas. The Israeli death toll rose to 1,200 on Tuesday," it added.

Source: https://t.co/ebtTfPjbY4

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) October 10, 2023

The latest

"The U.S. sent advisors from the U.S. intelligence community to augment an American special operations team assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Israel," the sources told The Messenger.

"Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed Tuesday the U.S. has 'people on the ground' who will assist Israeli authorities 'with intelligence and planning' for potential operations involving hostage rescue efforts," it continued.

The number of American hostages is not known at this time and the identities of those taken have not been revealed.

The reports of attacks by Hamas describe ISIS-like killings that have included slaughtering young children and other acts of violence against innocent civilians.

The clock is ticking as well, with Israel's strong military response overwhelming its enemies but leaving the future of hostages unknown. The next few days will be critical in securing the safety of hostages, including the option of special forces intervening if necessary to extract those in need of rescue from the hands of terrorists in Gaza.