American families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are urging President Joe Biden to reach a deal with the militant group, independent of Israel.
The urgency of the situation with the American hostages in Gaza was made worse after the execution of one of the eight, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a week and a half after his parents pled for his release at the Democratic National Convention. In a meeting with national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday, the relatives of the hostages urged the Biden administration to reach a deal with Hamas to secure their release, with or without Israel, NBC News reported.
Administration officials told the relatives they were pursuing “every option,” but preferred a deal made with Israel.
The Biden administration internally debated making a unilateral deal with Hamas in June but was met with strong opposition from some within the administration. Details of a possible deal were explored, two former and two current officials familiar with the matter told NBC News, with officials compiling a list of five people being held in U.S. prisons that Hamas may want to be released.
The officials said the Biden administration made a preliminary outreach to Hamas about a unilateral deal through Qatari officials roughly six months ago, though the attempt didn’t gain any ground.
U.S. officials haven’t outright dismissed the idea of a unilateral deal to release the U.S. hostages, avoiding answering directly when questioned on Tuesday.
“Our entire focus has been on securing agreement to get home all the hostages. That, of course, includes the American hostages,” State Department spokesman Matt Miller said.
“We are working on a deal to get all of them home,” he answered when pressed on whether a unilateral deal would be considered.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
With the death of Goldberg-Polin, U.S. officials believe there are now four living American hostages being held by Hamas. Another three are believed to be dead.
Goldberg-Polin was one of six hostages who were executed by Hamas fighters as Israel Defense Forces approached in Rafah last week, leading to a renewed outcry against the Netanyahu government for failing to reach a hostage deal. Tens of thousands of Israelis protested across the country, demanding a ceasefire in exchange for a hostage deal.