NBC Reporter At Briefing Pushes Biden Spox To ‘Rule Out’ American Forces Going In To Rescue Hostages — He Refuses

When NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander asked if President Joe Biden has ruled out sending American forces to rescue hostages, Biden NSC spokesman John Kirby conspicuously and forcefully, if that’s possible, did not.

Kirby joined White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at Tuesday’s White House press briefing, during which the subject of the situation in Israel following the coordinated terrorist assault on Israel Saturday morning was the dominant topic.

When asked about U.S. forces participating in hostage rescue operations, Kirby’s response gave the clear impression those options aren’t just not off the table — they’re on it:

PETER ALEXANDER: If I could ask you first just about something that you referred to, which is the reported incursion into northern Israel. There have been reports from the IDF. Do you have any new information to share on that? There were reports of paragliders initially. Any other additional information about that?

ADM. JOHN KIRBY: I’ve seen the reports. We’ve taken a quick look at them. We are not in a position to corroborate the validity of them. We have, what I’ve talked about with Jeff was rocket attacks that we know have occurred in recent days.

ALEXANDER: Then if I can, I just want to ask you separately about these hostages right now. Presumably 22 dead, at least 17 held hostage. Not only the number of dead could rise —

KIRBY: Seventeen that we know are missing. Excuse me. And that number will fluctuate. It could rise. It could go down. I mean, as people maybe they’re found safe and safe and sound. So it’s 17 today.

ALEXANDER: So about those who remain hostages right now. Has the president ruled out sending any American forces of any kind into Gaza at any time to help secure their release, if necessary, to get them out safely?

KIRBY: We haven’t made any policy options or operational decisions with respect to hostage recovery at this time. We are in active —

ALEXANDER: So nothing’s ruled out.

KIRBY: We haven’t made any decisions about hostage recovery at this time. We just don’t also have enough information, Peter, to be able to make decisions like that. But you heard, Jake, yesterday, say, and and the president as said, we’ll do everything we can anywhere around the world to make sure that Americans held hostage, have a path home and to be safe with their families. So we’re we’re keeping the — to Mary’s question, obviously, we’re casting a wide net. We’re also keeping the options wide open right now as we get more information. But we just don’t have enough granularity to be able to to fine-tune those options.

Watch above via Fox News.