White House says US Prez Joe Biden didn't hear query on Israel delaying ground incursion of Gaza

The White House clarified Joe Biden's statement, indicating that the President may not have fully heard the question.

"The president was far away. He didn't hear the full question. The question sounded like 'Would you like to see more hostages released?' He wasn't commenting on anything else," White House spokesperson Ben LaBolt said, the Reuters report said.

This comes after reporters asked Biden about the possibility of Israel delaying a potential ground invasion of Gaza to ensure more hostages could be evacuated.

The question was asked as Biden was boarding Air Force One, amidst the noise of the plane's engines.

Biden briefly paused, said "yes," and then proceeded onto the aircraft.

This came after the release of two U.S. hostages, Judith and Natalie Raanan, who were captured by the Islamist group Hamas during an attack in southern Israel on October 7.

Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel in the early morning of Oct. 7, firing 5,000 rockets in just 20 minutes and infiltrating the southern part of Israeli territory, where it seized a large number of hostages.