Biden in the dark on US missing

President Biden told reporters Friday that he was unsure when Hamas will release US hostages as part of a deal with Israel — after the terrorist group did not turn over any Americans in the first tranche of abductees set to be let go during a four-day pause in fighting in the Gaza Strip.

“We don’t know when that will occur,” the 81-year-old president said in response to a reporter’s question.

“We’re gonna be expecting it to occur, and we don’t know what the list of all the hostages are and when they’ll be released, but we know the numbers that are going to be released,” Biden said.

He added, “It is my hope and expectation it will be soon.”

Hamas has agreed to free another 26 hostages in the next three days — out of about 240 taken from southern Israel on Oct. 7.

Biden addressed the hostage crisis from Nantucket island in Massachusetts, where he and his family are vacationing at billionaire David Rubenstein’s home.

The president also said Friday that the US government is unsure exactly how many US hostages remain alive after the Oct. 7 attacks, which killed about 1,200 people, including at least 33 US citizens. Nine US citizens and one permanent resident remain missing.

“We don’t know all of their conditions,” Biden said when asked if the hostages are known to be alive.

The president also said that he expected to learn later Friday which hostages would be released by Hamas on Saturday in the second of four planned releases.

“We’re waiting now. It will be just a matter of — I thought maybe even as soon as by the time I got here — but in the next hour or so we’ll know what the second wave of releases are,” Biden said. “And I’m hopeful that is successful as we anticipate.”

Biden referred to three Americans who might be part of the initial hostage deal, which will prioritize the handover of children and women.

“Hamas doesn’t give a damn about them,” he added.