Biden says Americans in Gaza will be ‘coming home’ after dozens let out

WASHINGTON — President Biden said Friday that US citizens still in the Gaza Strip are “coming home” — hours after the Israeli military encircled Gaza City in its drive against the terror group Hamas.

“They’ll be coming home,” Biden told reporters during a group photo with Western Hemisphere leaders at the White House, even though hundreds of Americans still remain in the war zone.

Hamas allowed 74 Americans to leave through Egypt on Thursday after an initial group of five were let out on Wednesday, US officials said. It’s unclear how many additional departures may have occurred since.

Before those departures, about 400 US citizens and 600 of their relatives were trapped in Gaza, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told lawmakers Tuesday.

Israel is heavily bombing the densely populated region of more than 2 million people in a campaign to drive Hamas from power after its Oct. 7 attack on communities across southern Israel, which killed more than 1,400 people — including at least 33 Americans.

Although Israel had warned civilians ahead of its ground invasion to leave the northern half of the territory, including Gaza City, many did not.

Biden on Thursday described the US citizens who had left Gaza as “dual citizens.”

On Friday morning, the US embassy in Cairo captioned a photo of a woman and two children: “We welcome with gratitude the first groups of American citizens who have been able to safely depart Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.”

Hamas is holding captive up to 10 additional US citizens kidnapped from southern Israel, the White House has said — though the precise number has remained murky.