Biden confirms American hostages held by Hamas as families plead for help

President Biden confirmed Tuesday that Americans were among those taken hostage following the attack by Hamas militants in Israel over the weekend, in addition to 14 U.S. citizens who were killed.

Biden spoke to the press at the White House following a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday afternoon, calling the surprise attacks by Hamas, which left over 1,000 dead in Israel, an act of "pure, unadulterated evil.”

Biden did not offer specifics on the number of Americans who’ve been taken hostage, or any efforts to locate them, but said, "As president, I have no higher priority than the safety of Americans being held hostage around the world."

During a State Department briefing that began after Biden’s remarks, spokesperson Matthew Miller said that 20 Americans were missing — a number that, he noted, has fluctuated — and that the U.S. was offering hostage negotiation experts to the Israelis.

“[Secretary Antony Blinken] has been intensely focused on securing the release of all hostages held in Gaza,” Miller said. “There are a number of countries who have the ability to deliver messages to Hamas. and we have made clear to those countries that they should urge Hamas to release all hostages immediately. This is a matter we take incredibly seriously.”

Earlier Tuesday, six dual citizens of the United States and Israel whose family members have been missing since Saturday’s attacks pleaded with the Israeli government and President Biden to do everything they could to assure the safe return of their relatives. Other family members have spoken in interviews about their fears and hopes for a safe return. It’s unclear how many Americans are among the suspected 100 or more hostages.

In a briefing Monday evening, White House Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council John Kirby said, “The president has directed his team to work with their Israeli counterparts on every aspect of the hostage crisis, including sharing intelligence and deploying experts from across the United States government to consult with and advise Israeli counterparts on hostage recovery efforts.”

Over 1,000 Israelis were killed in the initial attack and more than 800 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip from Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes, according to government sources.

‘The optimistic scenario here is that she’s held hostage in Gaza’

Nahar Neta said that his 66-year-old mother, Adrienne Neta, is among those who are likely kidnapped.

“My mom used a little bit of Arabic that she picked up working as a nurse in the hospital in Sorokov for 20 years to calm down the terrorist,” Nahar Neta said, adding, “And it is our hope, which is a bit ridiculous at this stage to say that the optimistic scenario here is that she’s held hostage in Gaza and not dead.”

Ruby Chen — whose son Itay, a 19-year-old Israeli soldier born in New York City, is missing-in-action — was among those who spoke from the Tel Aviv press conference, saying, "We want to go back to being a family.” Chen asked his son's suspected captors to treat his son as a prisoner of war, "as per international law."

"The U.S. has a lot of resources at its attention,” Chen said. “It is able to do many things that can be different than what the Israeli government could do. And we are asking, on behalf of my family for President Biden ... and (the) secretary of state to do what they can to make this end for us as soon as possible."

Rachel Goldberg told reporters that her son Hersh Polin-Goldberg was at a dance party that had been attacked by Hamas.

"When I turned [my phone] on, there were two texts in a row from Hersh at 8:11,” Goldberg said. “The first one said, 'I love you,' and immediately at 8:11, also it said, 'I'm sorry.’”

"And so I knew immediately, wherever he was, it was a terrible situation,” Goldberg said. “I took it to mean 'I love you and I'm sorry' because whatever is going to happen is going to cause you tremendous pain and worry." She has not heard from her son since the texts on Saturday.

‘Absolute terror’

Abbey Onn, an American living in Israel, told MSNBC that five of her family members were abducted: Ofer Kalderon, 50, Sahar Kalderon, 16, Noya Dan, 13, Erez Kalderon, 12 and Carmela Dan, 80.

Onn said she awoke to sirens Saturday morning and began receiving messages from her family who lived near the border that militants were in their home. She said she stopped getting WhatsApp messages between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. as the military had advised residents to stop using it.

“We just want people to be aware that this is happening and that is a humanitarian issue. That this is every parent and every sibling and every parent’s worst nightmare,” Onn said, calling the attack “absolute terror.”

In another interview with CBS News, Onn said they saw video of 12-year-old Erez with Hamas, “which made us understand that they had been taken captive and that they're being held hostage in Gaza.”