(NewsNation) — Israel and Hamas have agreed to a temporary pause in fighting in exchange for the release of dozens of hostages after the U.S. spent weeks facilitating the deal.
“There was a concerted effort across the administration, State Department, certainly here at the National Security Council and out of the Oval Office to get this deal inked and to see if we can get these hostages out. So a lot of personal involvement again, right from the commander in chief on down,” said National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby.
Kirby told NewsNation the Biden administration worked nonstop for several weeks to reach the deal. Among the hostages the U.S. is hoping will be released are two women and a toddler. However, it won’t be known whether they are on the list until the releases happen.
“We certainly hope that those three Americans will be in this first installment of hostages released, but we won’t know for sure until they’re out,” Kirby said.
The deal reached involves the release of 50 women and children, but intelligence suggests there are likely more than that being held by Hamas. The deal was structured to encourage the future release of hostages.
“Now, obviously, the proof is in the pudding. We’re grateful for this deal. It’s our expectation that hostages could start moving as soon as the next 24 hours, but we’re going to have to watch and see,” Kirby told NewsNation.
Since the early days of the crisis, the U.S. was approached by Qatar and Israeli officials to talk about hostage release, as they thought the situation was unacceptable, according to a senior administration official.
The U.S. had almost daily senior-level calls with Qatar, Israel and Egypt on hostage negotiations.
President Joe Biden, who was personally involved in the process, met with the families of six hostages six days after the attacks. On Oct. 18, he visited Israel, with hostage release being the main topic of discussion.
On Oct. 23, a secret cell of aides, along with Israeli and Qatari forces, was able to release two American hostages. The operation served as a “pilot process” to track the hostages as they moved through Gaza in real-time, according to the senior administration official.
On Oct. 25, Biden was briefed on the progress being made on the negotiations, and the deal began to take shape. Then, on Nov. 12, Biden called the emir of Qatar, saying, “Where we were is not enough,” demanding a list of information about the hostages be released. This included the names, gender, nationality and age of the remaining hostages.
Shortly after, Hamas gave identifying information about the 50 hostages that were to be released.
On Nov. 14, President Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss moving forward with the hostage deal.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan played a major role in producing the formula for moving forward with the deal, which seemed to be getting closer until Hamas communications stopped and talks broke off briefly.
Last Friday, on Nov. 17, Biden called the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, saying the deal was close and the responsibility was on Hamas. The next day, the U.S. held a meeting to close the remaining gaps, and yesterday, the Israeli cabinet approved that deal.
This comes as the president was under growing pressure from Democrats for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war and facing low poll numbers because of his handling of the crisis.
Now, the White House hopes hostages will begin being released tomorrow morning and that the pause in military operations will extend to northern Israel, allowing for increased humanitarian aid to get in.