Gaza/Jerusalem: A deal to secure the release of some of the hostages held in Gaza by Hamas militants is closer than ever in the Islamist group’s war with Israel, a White House official said. White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said an agreement to free “considerably more than 12” hostages would also likely include an extended pause in the fighting and allow for the distribution of humanitarian assistance in Gaza.
Meanwhile, fighting raged, with Hamas militants battling Israeli forces trying to push into Gaza’s largest refugee camp, the day after Israeli and US officials denied a report that a deal had been reached. “What I can say at this point is that some of the outstanding areas of disagreement, in a very complicated, very sensitive negotiation, have been narrowed,” Finer said. “I believe we are closer than we have been in quite some time, maybe closer than we have been since the beginning of this process, to getting this deal done,” he added.
Israel’s ambassador to the US Michael Herzog said that Israel was hopeful a significant number of hostages could be released by Hamas “in coming days”. Hamas took about 240 hostages during its deadly crossborder rampage into Israel on October 7. Qatar PM Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told a press conference in Doha that the main obstacles to a deal were now “very minor”, with mainly “practical and logistical” issues to surmount.
The Hamas gunmen battled Israeli forces trying to push into Gaza’s largest refugee camp and at least 11 Palestinians were killed by an air strike on a house, medics said. Hamas and local witnesses say militants are waging guerrilla-style war in pockets of the densely urbanised north, including parts of Gaza City and the sprawling Jabalia and Beach refugee camps. Witnesses reported heavy fighting overnight between Hamas gunmen and Israeli forces trying to advance into Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s camps with nearly 100,000 people.