The Biden administration is hoping Israel and Hamas will agree to extend their ceasefire, which is set to expire in a matter of hours.
Israel and Hamas initially agreed to a four-day pause in fighting that would include the release of 50 hostages, held by Hamas or other Gaza-based terrorist groups since Oct. 7, in exchange for the release of three times as many Palestinians held in Israeli jails and a surge of humanitarian aid. They then agreed to extend the deal by two days, which is nearing its expiration.
MILITARY PILOTS GETTING UPDATED EYEWEAR TO PROTECT AGAINST INCREASING LASER THREATS
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is set to travel to Israel later this week, said Wednesday that the Biden administration is hoping for both sides to agree to another extension because it would mean the release of additional hostages.
"What it has enabled, first and foremost, is hostages being released, coming home, being reunited with their families," Blinken said. "It’s also enabled us to surge humanitarian assistance into the people of Gaza who so desperately need it. So its continuation, by definition, means that more hostages would be coming home, more assistance would be getting in."
Israeli officials indicated in the beginning of the ceasefire that they were willing to extend it one day for every 10 hostages Hamas agrees to release. Hamas and the other groups took roughly 240 people hostage during the terrorist attacks.
"So clearly that’s something we want, and I believe it’s also something that Israel wants," Blinken added. "They’re also intensely focused on bringing their people home. So we’re working on that. As you know, we’re working on that every single day, and I expect to take that up tomorrow when I’m in Israel meeting with the government."
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Wednesday that 159 people are still being held hostage, though that number is fluid. The latest batch of hostages is expected to be released in the coming hours barring any unforeseen hiccups.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Wednesday that Israeli forces will continue their efforts to remove Hamas from power in Gaza and strip them of their military capabilities whenever the ceasefire agreement expires.
"In the last few days I hear a question - will Israel return to fighting after this phase of returning our abductees is exhausted?" Netanyahu said on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. "So my answer is unequivocal - yes.
"There is no way we are not going back to fighting until the end," he continued. "This is my policy, the entire cabinet stands behind it, the entire government stands behind it, the soldiers stand behind it, the people stand behind it - and that is exactly what we will do."
A senior Biden administration official told reporters earlier this week that officials have conveyed to their Israeli counterparts to be “more cautious, more careful, more deliberate, and more precise in their targeting,” and added, “We have had some effect on their thinking and their execution.”
Thousands of Palestinians have been killed during the war prior to the ceasefire.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The initial phase of Israel's ground campaign in Gaza, which has paused amid the ceasefire, has primarily targeted northern Gaza, where officials have said Hamas is located. Israel demanded more than a million Palestinians in northern Gaza evacuate south, but there are concerns that the next steps in the Israeli military's ground operation will take place in the south, potentially putting all of those evacuees in the danger they had sought to escape.
“We don't support them moving in the south unless or until they can demonstrate a plan that accounts for the additional civilian life that is now in South Gaza and how they're going to try to protect that,” the official said.