A U.S. official said a deal to release hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza is getting close.
Jon Finer, the White House’s deputy national security adviser, told the Sunday news shows that negotiators were drawing close to an agreement, but he didn’t want to provide too many details. “We are closer than we have been perhaps at any point since these negotiations began weeks ago,” Finer told CNN’s State of the Union.
“There are areas of difference and disagreement that have been narrowed, if not closed out entirely,” he added.
Finer told ABC’s This Week that U.S. officials are working through negotiators to free as many hostages as they can, including Americans being held. “There are a significant number of hostages who could be released if this deal is completed,” he said, adding that U.S. officials believe a majority of the estimated 240 hostages are alive.
Pressed by NBC Meet the Press to answer how many hostages could be released in a deal, Finer said “We are talking about considerably more than 12, but beyond that, I want to see where this goes and don’t want to say anything that would jeopardize actually completion of the deal.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog confirmed the state of the negotiations to This Week. “We are hopeful that we can get a significant number of hostages freed in the coming days.”
Asked whether the freeing of hostages would be accompanied by a pause in the fighting between Israel and Hamas, Herzog told This Week: “We’re talking about a pause in the fighting for a few days so we can get the hostages out.”
Write to Liz Moyer at liz.moyer@barrons.com
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