President Biden told reporters Friday that he wasn’t sure when Hamas would release American hostages as part of a deal with Israel — after the terrorist group did not hand over any U.S. citizens in the first round of kidnappers set to be released during a four-day pause in fighting in Gaza Peninsula.
“We don’t know when that will happen,” the 81-year-old president said in response to reporters’ questions.
“We would expect it to happen and we don’t know what the list of all the hostages will be and when they will be released, but we know how many will be released,” Biden said.
He added, “It is my hope and expectation that it will happen soon.”
Hamas released 24 hostages on Friday and has agreed to release 26 more over the next three days — out of about 240 hostages taken from southern Israel on Oct. 7.
The initial group included 13 Israelis, 10 Thais and one Filipino.
Biden addressed the hostage crisis from Nantucket Island in Massachusetts, where he and his extended family were vacationing at the home of billionaire David Rubenstein.
The president also said on Friday that the US government was not sure how many American hostages were still alive after the October 7 attacks, which killed about 1,200 people, including at least 33 US citizens.
Nine US citizens and one permanent resident are still missing.
“We don’t know all their circumstances,” Biden said when asked if the hostages were known to be alive.
The president also said that he expected to know later on Friday which hostages would be released by Hamas on Saturday in the second of four planned group releases.
“We wait now. It’s just a problem — I think maybe as soon as I get here — but within the next hour we’ll know what the second wave of releases is. And I hope it’s as successful as we expect it to be,” Biden said.
Biden referred to three Americans who may be part of the initial hostage deal, which would prioritize the handing over of children and women.
“We also remember all those still detained and renew our commitment to work for their release as well – two American women and a 4-year-old child, Abigail, who remain among those missing,” he said. “We also will not stop until these hostages are brought home and answers about their whereabouts.”
The pause in fighting as part of the hostage deal comes as Biden faces pressure from left-leaning Democrats to convince Israel to slow down its assault on Gaza in an effort to topple the Hamas-run government there.
Protesters in Nantucket shouted “free Palestine!” and “truce!” at Biden right after his speech.
Biden told reporters that “the opportunity is real” that the four-day lull in fighting could last longer and that the ceasefire “brings a critical opportunity to deliver much-needed food, medicine, water and fuel to civilians in Gaza.”
“Hamas does not care about them,” he added.
The Israeli government said the ceasefire could be extended if Hamas released 10 additional hostages each day after the initial four-day period.
In addition to the ceasefire, Israel agreed to release 150 imprisoned Palestinian women and children as part of a deal brokered by the governments of Egypt and Qatar.
Although there were no Americans in the initial release, Biden noted that two US citizens were released by Hamas on Oct. 20.
“Today is the result of hard work and a week of personal involvement. Since Hamas kidnapped these people, I and my team have been working around the clock to secure their release. We saw the first results of this with the release of two American hostages at the end of October, followed by the release of two Israeli hostages,” he said.
Biden risked political consequences if the hostage crisis lasted longer, with some commentators noting potential parallels to the Iran hostage crisis of 1979-1981, in which 52 Americans were held captive for 444 days, helping to destroy then-President Jimmy Carter’s re-election bid.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
