Blinken says US exploring all options to bring Americans taken by Hamas home

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with "World News Tonight" anchor David Muir on Thursday and discussed how the U.S. is working to free the Americans who were taken by Hamas during last weekend's attack.

Blinken stressed that the U.S. is exploring all options in getting the American citizens who were taken by Hamas forces back safely, however, he would not say if those plans included using U.S. Special Forces.

"I'm not going to get into the specifics of what we're looking at considering, unfortunately, [that] we have a lot of experience with this over the years," he told Muir. "And President Biden has always been determined in these situations, to explore every possible option. That's what we’re doing."

Blinken noted that the U.S. is working with other countries "who may have relationships, who may have influence, [or] who may have leverage, with Hamas to use that leverage, in favor of getting the hostages home, and getting them out."

"That’s a conversation I’ll be continuing as I move on from Israel," Blinken said.

Earlier in the day the secretary of state met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and during the meeting, Blinken said he was shown gruesome images and videos of victims who were killed and wounded during last weekend's attack. Blinken said that the images, many of which were not seen before, were "genuinely overwhelming."

"A young infant riddled with bullets, a family hugging each other, in a death embrace, having been burned to death, beheaded soldiers," Blinken said, describing what he saw. "It almost defies human comprehension precisely because it's not human."

When asked about President Joe Biden's warning against Iran, Blinken noted the long relationship between Hamas and Iran but said that the U.S. currently has no evidence that Iran participated in or helped plan the attack.

"That doesn't mean that it didn't, we just don't have the evidence to show it," he said.

As Israel prepares for a possible ground incursion Blinken stressed that "Israel has not just the right but the obligation after what it’s experienced, to defend its people."

He also noted that Hamas is using Palestinians in Gaza as "human shields."

"One of the many tragedies that Hamas inflicts on people is the tragedy it’s inflicted on the Palestinian people, including all the good people in Gaza," he said. "Instead of using the resources that are at its disposal to actually better their lives, what has it done? It's used almost all of its resources for terrorist tunnels and rockets to attack Israel."