Second group of Hamas-held hostages released after delay; cease-fire holds
Following a lengthy delay, a second group of Hamas-held hostages were freed following the release of an initial group of 24 hostages on Friday.
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Following a lengthy delay, a second group of Hamas-held hostages were freed following the release of an initial group of 24 hostages on Friday.
Qatari and Egyptian mediators say Hamas agreed to release 13 Israelis and seven foreigners on Saturday in exchange for 39 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
The planned four-day cease-fire is part of an extendable deal that calls for Hamas to free 50 hostages and Israel to release 150 Palestinian prisoners.
The Israeli government said early Wednesday that it had approved a deal that would see 50 hostages held in Gaza released and a 4-day cease-fire observed.
Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry says Israeli forces are closing in on second facility in the Palestinian enclave as thousands evacuate Al-Shifa hospital.
"Many areas of difference that previously existed have been narrowed," a top national security adviser to President Biden said Sunday.
"We're just wondering how far is this going to go? We're calling for a cease-fire," Jordanian Ambassador Dina Kawar told "Face the Nation."
A cease-fire would be possible only if the more than 200 hostages held by militants in Gaza are released, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address.
The possible cease-fire deal is being brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, a Persian Gulf country that mediates with Hamas, according to the Associated Press.
Hamas officials say the death toll is over 10,000 as Israel ignores rising calls for a cease-fire and Israeli troops surround the Gaza Strip's largest city.
"We believe that there are still a number of Americans inside Gaza," deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said Sunday.
The president is under growing pressure from those who say Israel's bombardment of Gaza is collective punishment.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the nation that Israel has opened a "new phase" in the war by sending ground forces into Gaza and expanding attacks from the ground, air and sea.
"We have to show the world what happened here," an Israel Defense Forces spokesman said, explaining the decision to show reporters disturbing video of the Hamas attacks.
The Bidens are celebrating close ally Australia with a state dinner, but changed the entertainment in acknowledgment of death and suffering in Middle East.
Truzman says initially the music festival goers didn't know what was happening.
Two more hostages taken by Hamas during the deadly Oct. 7 attack, identified by Israeli officials as Nurit Cooper and Yocheved Lifshitz, have been released.
Deadly, ongoing Israeli airstrikes are fueling anger across the region and fear for 222 Hamas hostages in Gaza as the U.S. tries to delay an invasion.
The Hamas militant group's coordinated terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7 was the deadliest assault in the region in decades, and prompted Israel to declare war.
President Biden spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu on Sunday, a day after the first convoy of humanitarian aid was allowed into Gaza to address the unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
However, no U.S. citizens or other foreign nationals who have been stranded in Gaza since the war began were allowed to cross into Egypt.
The freed U.S. hostages are Judith and Natalie Shoshana Raanan from suburban Chicago, officials announced.
President Biden is traveling to Israel to show support for a key U.S. ally as Israel and Hamas trade accusations over a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital.
President Biden will head to Israel this week, in a show of U.S. support for the country and its people.
As war between Israel and Hamas continues, President Biden said he does not believe the two-state solution is dead.
