America's President Joe Biden did not hear a query whether Israel should postpone a likely ground incursion of Gaza until more hostages can get out, when he answered, "yes", the White House said, reported Reuters.
The White House clarified Joe Biden's statement, indicating that the POTUS may not have fully heard the question.
"The president was far away. He didn't hear the full question. The question sounded like 'Would you like to see more hostages released?' He wasn't commenting on anything else," White House spokesperson Ben LaBolt said, as per the Reuters report.
This comes after reporters asked Biden about the possibility of Israel delaying a potential ground invasion of Gaza to ensure more hostages could be evacuated.
The question was asked as Biden was boarding Air Force One, amidst the noise of the plane's engines.
Biden briefly paused, said "yes", and then proceeded to board the aircraft.
This came after the release of two American hostages, Judith and Natalie Raanan, who were captured by the Islamist militant group Hamas during an attack in southern Israel on October 7.
Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel in the early morning of October 7, firing 5,000 rockets in just 20 minutes and infiltrating the southern part of Israeli territory, where it took a large number of people as hostages.