White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Thursday that the U.S. is involved with “intense negotiations” on securing the release of some hostages held by Palestinian militant group Hamas but there was no deal on the table yet.
Kirby told CNN the U.S. has a “team on the ground” that is working “by the hour” on a potential deal but pumped the brakes on sharing any other details.
“We are in some intense negotiations; hopefully they’ll come out the right way and we’ll have good news to talk about with multiple hostages getting free,” he said. “But we don’t have a deal right now, and until we do, the less said the better.”
A deal could involve the swapping of dozens of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in return for a truce of a few days in the war, along with the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, according to media reports.
Qatar, which maintains communications with Israel, Hamas and the U.S., is also reportedly in the midst of the negotiations. Qatari officials have already helped secure the release of a few Israeli prisoners.
President Biden has also hinted at a deal, telling reporters at a press conference Wednesday night that he was “deeply involved in moving on the hostage negotiation.”
“We’ve gotten great cooperation from the Qataris. I’ve spoken with them as well a number of times,” Biden said. “I’m mildly hopeful.”
Hamas took about 239 hostages in a deadly Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel, which also left more than 1,200 Israelis dead.
Israel is now waging an intense war on Hamas, invading Gaza and now fighting in the streets of Gaza City, the Hamas stronghold, to rescue hostages and eradicate the Palestinian militant group.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed there would be no cease-fire without the release of hostages and also said his forces would free the prisoners.
But this week, Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office that Israel has been employing “increased pressure” to secure the release of hostages since launching the Gaza ground invasion in late October.
“If and when there will be something concrete to report,” he said, “we will do so.”