US doctors stuck in Gaza witnessing ‘complete eradication’

The Biden administration said Tuesday it’s doing everything it can to help evacuate several American doctors who are stuck in Gaza amid a total military siege by Israel of the Rafah crossing, with some trapped saying they are witnessing a “complete eradication of everything.” 

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday the White House is monitoring the situation involving the trapped U.S. medical workers.

“We’re tracking this matter closely and working to get the impacted American citizens out of Gaza,” she said. Jean-Pierre added that the administration is “engaging directly with the government of Israel to make that happen.”

More than a dozen American doctors, nurses, and other health care workers went to Gaza May 1 as part of a medical mission at the European Hospital with the Palestinian American Medical Association. 

The group was scheduled to leave Rafah on Monday so another mission could take over the aid work but have since been told there is no longer a safe route to exit the besieged strip after Israeli troops seized control of Gaza’s Rafah border crossing last week.