Israel-Gaza updates: Israeli forces preparing for 'wide range of offensive plans'

President Joe Biden said at a roundtable with Jewish leaders on Wednesday that the U.S. is "doing a lot" to rescue the Americans held hostage by Hamas.

"We're working on every aspect of the hostage crisis in Israel, including deploying experts to advise and assist with recovery efforts," he said. "I have not given up hope of bringing these folks home."

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff also delivered remarks at the roundtable. Emhoff, the first Jewish spouse of a president or vice president, said, "Like all Jews, I feel a deep visceral connection to Israel and its people."

"We witnessed a mass murder of innocent civilians," he said. "The images that we saw will be seared in our brains forever. Rockets falling on cities, people dragged from their homes and shot dead, children sheltering from bullets, bodies lining the streets. And all the while, we see videos of these terrorists cheering on these atrocities. "

"I know you're all hurting. The entire Jewish community is hurting, I'm hurting," he said.

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Biden delivers remarks after roundtable with Jewish community leadersPresident Joe Biden delivers remarks after joining a roundtable with Jewish community leaders at the White House.

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The State Department said it's "exploring contract options" to help Americans looking to leave Israel travel to nearby countries.

Though there are still commercial flights available from Israel, they are limited, the State Department noted.

An official familiar with the discussions said the State Department may bring in charter flights to get Americans from Israel to nearby countries where they can then take commercial flights to the U.S.

A separate State Department spokesperson said the administration was "acutely aware of the currently limited capacity on commercial flights and the high demand from U.S. citizens wanting to depart," and said that for now, Americans should "take advantage of commercial flights that involve transiting a third country if they are unable to book a direct flight to the United States."

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford

Women and children account for most of the thousands injured in Gaza from the airstrikes, according to Doctors Without Borders.

Doctors Without Borders said all of the patients they received at one of their clinics in Gaza City were children between the ages of 10 to 14.

Stephanie Hallett, the chargé d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, posted a video on X showing her standing in front of the wreckage at Israel's Be'eri kibbutz, where many residents were killed by Hamas terrorists.

"It's really unbelievable," she said, choking up. "As a mother, and just as a human being, to see and to know what happened here, it's really important to say that we've been here, we've seen it, and it is evil. And we stand with Israel."