US, Israel unsure how many Hamas hostages are 'still alive,' Jake Sullivan says

US, Israel unsure how many Hamas hostages are 'still alive,' Jake Sullivan says

The U.S. and Israel are unsure of how many hostages that Hamas terrorists took on Oct. 7 are "still alive," National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday.

Sullivan made the comments during an appearance on ABC's "This Week." He said the U.S. remains focused on securing the release of the nine U.S. citizens and one U.S. green card-holder believed to be in Hamas custody. He said that while Israel is classifying all 239 missing individuals as hostages of Hamas, there is no way to be sure how many of them are "still alive."

"We do not know the precise number of hostages. We know the number of missing, and that's the number the Israelis have given, but we don't know how many of those are still alive," Sullivan told ABC. "As far as Americans are concerned, there are nine missing American citizens as well as a missing legal permanent resident--a greencard holder."

Sullivan said he will be meeting with family members of the missing Americans later this week.

Sullivan was later asked about claims from Hamas that Israeli airstrikes have killed a number of hostages taken on Oct. 7. He responded that no claims by Hamas should be taken at face value, but also said the U.S. has no way to disprove or confirm the claim.