The White House on Saturday said that no deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas to free hostages and halt the war to ensure their safe release.
A report by the Washington Post claimed that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a tentative agreement brokered by the US to free dozens of women and children held hostage in Gaza in exchange for a five-day pause in fighting.
However, White House spokesperson Adrienne Watson took to social media website X, formerly Twitter, and said that such a deal has not been reached but the US will keep working to finalise such a deal.
“We have not reached a deal yet, but we continue to work hard to get to a deal,” White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said on X, formerly Twitter, in response to a Washington Post report of a tentative deal.
We have not reached a deal yet, but we continue to work hard to get to a deal. https://t.co/rbSqcqfaKo— Adrienne Watson (@NSC_Spox) November 19, 2023
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on the reports of a deal to free hostages and said that no deal has been agreed upon and said there were “a lot of incorrect reports” being published.
The report by the American newspaper claimed that the hostage release could begin within days and lead to the first sustained pause in conflict in Gaza. The agreement consists of six-pages, the newspaper further added.
The report by the Washington Post said the six-page agreement citing all parties to the ongoing 2023 Israel-Hamas war would halt military operations for at least five days while “50 or more hostages are released in smaller batches every 24 hours”. The report highlighted that it still remains unclear how many of the 239 hostages are being held in Gaza. It also pointed out that overhead surveillance will monitor movements on the ground “to police the pause”.
At the time of writing this report the Washington Post has retained its story on its website and has also retained the post on X announcing that a deal has been reached. The post on X by the American newspaper announcing the tentative deal and the White House reaction to the development has been shared at the beginning of this article.
This development comes after two important events. Firstly, the families of those held captive in Gaza staged a five-day march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to demand government action, increasing pressure on Netanyahu to ensure that the lives of innocent Israelis are not at stake and the government must take steps to secure their release.
Secondly, Brett McGurk, US President Joe Biden’s main adviser on the Middle East said Saturday there would be a “significant pause” in the Israel-Hamas war if hostages held by militants in Gaza are freed while addressing a security conference in Bahrain.
Hamas seized about 240 hostages on October 7 when they surged across Gaza’s militarised border into southern Israel to kill around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.
In response, Israel is carrying out a relentless bombardment and ground offensive of targets in the Gaza Strip which has so far killed 12,300 people, according to the Palestinian territory’s Hamas government.
