The Biden administration believes that at least one of the three American women and children held hostage by terror groups in Gaza will be freed on Sunday, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.
Sunday marks the third day of the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which includes the release of hostages taken by Hamas and another Gaza-based terror group known as Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Oct. 7 in exchange for the release of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons in addition to a surge in humanitarian aid to the strip.
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The three American women and children include two women and a 4-year-old girl named Abigail Edan, who recently spent her birthday in captivity, though Sullivan did not specify which among them the administration expected to be released on Sunday.
“The initial hostage deal involves the release of women and children, and there are three Americans in that category. Two women and one young child. And we have reason to believe that one of those Americans will be released today, but until we see her out safely from Gaza in the hands of the authorities and ultimately in the hands of her family, then we won’t be certain," Sullivan said on NBC's Meet the Press.
The U.S. does not have information about Edan's condition, he said during ABC's "This Week," adding, that they "have reason to believe is that she is still alive, and we are hopeful that she will be reunited with her family soon."
Should one of the three be released on Sunday, it would mark the first American to be released since the truce commenced on Friday, though two Americans were the first hostages freed back on Oct. 23. Natalie and Judith Raanan were released that day, and two other hostages, not Americans, were released days later as well. Together, the four were the only hostages released prior to the truce, which was the first cessation of fighting since the war broke out.
There are nine U.S. citizens and one U.S. Green Card holder, for a total of 10 Americans who are held hostage, while seven of them are men.
The truce, which was brokered by the Egyptian, Qatari, and United States governments, is a fragile agreement that was weeks in the making, has experienced a series of bumps along the way, and could crumble at any moment. Simultaneously, there is the possibility the ceasefire could extend past its intended 4-5 period if Hamas decides to release more hostages than the initial details of the agreement.
"Obviously, this is an incredibly painful, harrowing, difficult circumstance to be held hostage by a terrorist group, to be grabbed from your home. Oftentimes some of these hostages have — had family members killed. So, the trauma of that is just intense," Sullivan said Sunday on ABC's This Week. "Physically, many of them are doing OK. Emotionally and psychologically, this is going to take a long time to recover from. And Israel and other countries have mobilized substantial resources to be able to deal with that trauma as we go forward."
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Hamas and PIJ are believed to be holding roughly 240 civilians, while the parties agreed to release fifty during this initial wave — women and children only — Israel has agreed to free three Palestinians held in Israeli jails for every hostage released.
More than 30 Americans were among the roughly 1,200 people killed in the Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel.