Israel-Gaza live updates: 14 Americans killed in ‘act of sheer evil,’ Biden says

The United States is tracking about 20 Americans who are still missing in Israel, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Tuesday.

Miller said that doesn’t necessarily mean they are being held by Hamas.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel this week to work with Israeli partners directly to determine “how we can continue to best support them,” Miller said.

Blinken will most likely leave on Wednesday to arrive in Israel on Thursday, he said.

Mourners comfort each other during the funeral of Israeli soldier Benjamin Loeb, a dual Israeli-French citizen, in Jerusalem, Oct. 10, 2023. Loeb was killed on Saturday as the militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel.

An Israeli firefighter kneels to compose himself after he and his colleagues extinguished cars burning after being struck by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, Israel, Oct. 9, 2023.

Biden has not spoken with the families of the 14 Americans killed in Israel, but the State Department has been in constant contact with their families, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday.

“The president has been making this his highest priority as he receives briefings each day about what we are doing to try to determine both what’s happening with the missing and also to ensure that we can secure the bodies of those that have perished and ensure that they get returned to their loved ones,” he said.

-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford and Mary Bruce