WATCH: CNN’s Jake Tapper -“It doesn’t seem like saving the hostages is a priority”

CNN’s Jake Tapper asked White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan whether the U.S. is attempting to rescue American citizens being held hostage in Gaza.

‘Is rescuing the hostages a priority at all?’ Tapper pressed Sullivan.

‘I mean, Israeli news media like Haaretz, they say it doesn’t seem like it at all,’ he added. ‘And frankly, Jake, if my kids were being held hostage in Gaza and as you know, there are Americans being held hostage in Gaza right now, I’d want you to send in the Navy SEALs. What’s the conversation like in the White House about the U.S. conducting any sort of operations in order to save Americans being held hostage in Gaza?’

Sullivan insisted: ‘Well, the president has been very clear that he has no higher priority than getting Americans back safe, Americans who are being held hostage by Hamas.’

‘The Israelis are bombing the crap out of Gaza! And Jake, I mean, it doesn’t seem like saving the hostages are a priority at all right now,’ Tapper pressed.

‘Well, for President Biden, they are a priority. They’re the highest possible priority,’ Sullivan repeated.

He added: ‘I have to be cautious about how much I can say about certain efforts he’s undertaking, because we want to protect those efforts to give us the best possible chance of getting our people home.’