More than 300 Americans, family members leave Gaza, more remain

More than 300 Americans and their family members have left Gaza but US citizens remain in the besieged enclave and difficult negotiations continue on securing release of hostages taken by Hamas, a White House official said Sunday.Those released included US citizens, lawful permanent residents and their family members, Jonathan Finer, deputy national security adviser, said on the CBS programme "Face the Nation."Finer said a number of Americans who want to get out remain inside Gaza as the Israel-Hamas conflict rages but did not specify how many.There were around 400 American citizens and their family members, totaling around 1,000 people, who wanted to get out, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week.Evacuations of injured Gazans and foreign passport holders through the Rafah crossing to Egypt have been suspended since Saturday, but Egyptian, US and Qatari officials said there were efforts to resume them.Difficult negotiations continue on how to secure the release of hostages, including some Americans, taken by Hamas resistance fighters, Finer said."Those negotiations are going on quietly behind the scenes. They have taken longer than any of us would like," Finer said. "But we continue to believe that there is the possibility of getting a significant number of these hostages released."President Joe Biden on Wednesday spoke about the need for a pause in the hostilities to allow hostages to get out, and the White House has said it supports a "humanitarian pause" to allow aid deliveries to Gaza.Gaza health authorities have said more than 9,770 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes.