A government official has confirmed that no Americans are expected to be among the hostages released by Hamas, which is delaying their release today.
The White House says it remains “hopeful” that American citizens will be included in the hostage releases in the coming days, but that they have not been included in the second round, which was scheduled to take place on Saturday.
“The president, as the pilot of this major hostage release, secured the release of two American citizens,” a White House official said Saturday.
“We are at an early stage in the process, with at least 50 women and children being released in the first phase of the agreement.
“We are confident that three women and children with dual citizenship who are American citizens will be present.” This will unfold in the coming days. “We will not comment on individual cases as the process is ongoing,” they added.
President Joe Biden on Friday praised “extensive U.S. diplomacy” for the release of Hamas hostages, but said it was “just a start” as no U.S. citizen had yet been released
Aviv Asher, 2.5 years old, her sister Raz Asher, 4.5 years old, and mother Doron react as they step out of an Israeli military helicopter shortly after arriving in Israel November 24
Biden told reporters Friday afternoon that the U.S. did not know when the American citizens held hostage would be released, but said it was his “hope and expectation that it will be soon.”
Biden praised “extensive U.S. diplomacy” for the release of Hamas hostages, but said it was “just a beginning” as no U.S. citizen had yet been released.
Abigail Mor Edan lost both parents in Hamas’ bloody attack on Israel on October 7 and is considered the youngest US citizen in the hands of the terrorist group. She turns four today
He told reporters that he was not sure when the first U.S. citizens would leave Gaza, as two U.S. women and four-year-old Abigail Mor Edan are believed to be among the hostages kidnapped during Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 terror attack Israel.
Earlier on Friday, Biden was briefed several times by his national security team on the latest developments related to the release of the Gaza hostages, the White House said.
“This morning I was busy with my team as the difficult first days of implementing this deal begin,” Biden said.
“It’s just a start, but so far it’s been going well.”
So far, 25 people have been released after hundreds were kidnapped and trafficked into the area by the terror group.
The president noted that this group of hostages included “an elderly woman, a grandmother and mothers with their young children, some under the age of six.”
However, Hamas’s armed wing has said the second round of Israeli hostage releases will be delayed due to a dispute over aid.
The hostages would only be released if Israel agreed to allow aid trucks into the northern Gaza Strip, the group said on Saturday.
Egypt and Qatar are reportedly trying to resolve the delay in the second round of Israeli hostage releases from Gaza.
Hamas’ armed wing said Saturday it was delaying the handover of a second group of hostages until Israel “complies with the terms of the agreement.”
Bunyarin Srijan, the mother of a Thai hostage released under a hostage and prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel, holds her phone with a picture of her daughter Natthawaree during an interview at her home in Khon Kaen, Thailand, November 25 Mulkan in hand
Released Israeli child hostages are held by Israeli soldiers shortly after arriving in Israel on November 24th
In a statement, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said it was concerned with the entry of humanitarian aid into the north of the Gaza Strip and the selection criteria for the release of prisoners.
An Israeli official confirmed to AFP that the hostages had not yet been handed over to the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades said the release of the hostages would be delayed if Israel did not abide by agreed conditions for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
There was no immediate Israeli reaction to the statement. Earlier, an Israeli military spokesman told French television channel BFM that unless there were any last-minute changes, the release of 13 Israeli hostages was expected.
He said that in return 39 Palestinian prisoners would be released.
As part of the Qatar-brokered ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, a total of 50 hostages are to be exchanged within four days for 150 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom have been convicted of weapons and violent crimes.
In the first exchange on Friday, 13 Israeli women and children – out of around 240 hostages taken by Hamas militants in a rampage in southern Israel on October 7 – were released. 24 imprisoned Palestinian women and 15 teenagers were released from Israeli prisons.
Saturday’s setback came just hours after Egypt, which controls the Rafah crossing into the southern Gaza Strip through which vital aid deliveries have resumed, said it had received “positive signals” from all parties about a possible extension of that agreement.