Number of Missing Americans Drops to 17 In Israel After Hamas Attack

The number of missing Americans has dropped from "20 or more" to 17 in Israel following the attacks by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas that killed more than 1,000 people, according to the White House.

The death toll, however, has risen to 22, and an undetermined number of the missing Americans are being held hostage by Hamas, said White House national security spokesperson John Kirby on Wednesday.

The White House has stressed that the status of Americans in Israel remains fluid.

"I think we all need steel ourselves for the very distinct possibility that these numbers will keep increasing and that we may, in fact, find out that more Americans are part of the hostage pool," he said.

Kirby said the Biden administration is grieving with affected families and will do everything possible to help them find their loved ones.

President Joe Biden said in a speech Tuesday he has directed his team to share intelligence and deploy additional experts from across the U.S. government to consult with and advise Israeli counterparts on hostage recovery efforts.

But Kirby said Wednesday it is "tough" to get more details on the Americans who are being held hostage. Israelis have been "tremendously forthcoming" with the information they have, but it isn't specific. "We just don't have a lot of granularity on where these people are or what condition they might be in or whether they've been moved," he said.

In total, at least 1,200 people had been confirmed dead and 2,700 wounded in Israel, with roughly 150 more taken hostage by Hamas. Another 1,050 people have been killed and 5,100 people injured in Israel's retaliatory strikes on Gaza, according to Palestinian officials.