Progress made towards deal to pause Israel-Hamas conflict, free hostages: Report

This story has been updated to reflect the status of the deal as reported by the Washington Post.

(NewsNation) —  Israel, the United States and Hamas are close to an agreement to free dozens of women and children held hostage in Gaza, in exchange for a five-day pause in fighting, the Washington Post reported on Saturday citing people familiar with the deal.

According to the report, the hostage release could begin within the next several days and could lead to the first sustained pause in the conflict.

Under the terms of a detailed, six-page agreement, the Washington Post reported, “all parties to the conflict would freeze combat operations for at least five days” while an initial 50 or more of what are believed to be a total 239 hostages are “released in batches every 24 hours.”

During weeks of negotiations in Doha, Qatar, the tentative agreement emerged among Israel, the United States, and Hamas, with Qatari mediators representing the latter indirectly. What wasn’t clear until now was that Israel would be willing to temporarily halt its offensive in Gaza, contingent on specific conditions being met. 

The Post reported overhead surveillance would monitor ground movement to help police the pause, which also is intended to allow in a significant amount of humanitarian aid.

National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson responded to the report, telling NewsNation, “No deal yet but we continue to work hard to get a deal.”

There was no further comment from the White House or the Israeli prime minister’s office on the Washington Post report.

NewsNation host Dan Abrams on Wednesday discussed negotiations for the tentative deal, saying it would also increase the amount of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza.

President Joe Biden also hinted at the deal on Wednesday, saying, “We are talking with the people involved every single day, I believe it’s going to happen but I don’t want to get into detail.”

When asked what his message was for the families of the hostages, he said, “Hang in there, we are comin’.”

Joel Rubin, who was deputy assistant secretary of state during the Obama administration, joined “Dan Abrams Live” to offer further insights into the tentative agreement, saying, “Any delay, any pause could give Hamas a chance to not just regroup, but to fortify underground. And that’s the real concern.”

Rubin stressed it is crucial to get the hostages out, saying, “It is essential that people who were stolen from southern Israel are returned to their families. But if Hamas can regroup, and Israel then gets threatened again in the south because of that, that’s gonna have a longer-term impact that I think that there’s gonna be a lot of pushback in the security channels against a partial release.”

Reuters contributed to this report. Check back for updates as this story is developing.