President Joe Biden said the U.S. hopes a pause in the fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza can be extended, as Hamas released 17 additional hostages on Sunday, including 14 Israelis.
It was the third release of hostages since a fragile pause in the fighting began on Friday and is set to continue through Monday.
Biden said Sunday that the U.S. hopes “to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow so we can continue to see hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief to those in need in Gaza.”
The hostages released on Sunday include nine children, four women, and at least three foreign nationals. The group includes at least one U.S. dual citizen, Abigan Mor Idan, a 4-year-old whose parents were killed in the Oct. 7 attacks.
“What she endured is unthinkable,” Biden said at a press conference on Sunday. “She’s now safely in Israel, and we continue to press and expect additional Americans will be released as well. We will not stop working until every hostage is returned to their loved ones.”
Since Friday’s temporary pause, brokered by officials in Qatar, Egypt, Israel, and the U.S., a total of 58 hostages have been released, while about 200 aid trucks have gotten into Gaza daily, Biden said.
The total hostages released includes 26 Israelis or dual national women and children who have left Gaza and returned to Israel. Another 15 hostages, mostly Thai citizens, were released in a separate agreement.
Israel is expected to release 39 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday in exchange for the hostages, under a deal that Hamas would release three Palestinian prisoners for each Israeli hostage freed.
Israel has released 78 Palestinian women and teenagers from Israeli prisons.
Israel has agreed to extend the cease-fire by another 24 hours for every 10 hostages Hamas releases but the Israeli defense minister has also said that once the four-day ceasefire ends, it will resume its war against Hamas with all intensity with the goal of destroying the terrorist organization.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told ABC’s This Week earlier Sunday that there are nine U.S. citizens and one legal permanent resident being held. That includes three women and children and seven men. “Physically, many of them are doing OK,” he said. “Emotionally and psychologically, this is going to take a long time to recover from.”
Sullivan said that the pause in fighting could continue if Hamas keeps releasing hostages, but that if it doesn’t, “the responsibility for that rests on the shoulders of Hamas, not on the shoulders of Israel.”
Write to Janet H. Cho at [email protected]
Read the full article here
