US officials are now focused on trying to find a way to rescue the hostages - a mission that some sources say is facing many complications due to Israel's decision to expand its ground operations into Gaza.
The United States is still engaged in a swap between Israel, Qatar, Egypt and Hamas to secure the release of hostages from Gaza, and officials are grappling with Israel's continued push for ground operations into the strip.
Officials in the office of US President Joe Biden have called on Israel to consider a “humanitarian pause” that would allow civilians in Gaza, including hostages, to leave the area and allow aid to be delivered.
Commenting on the uncertainty of the current situation, a senior US official told CNN on Monday that they believe the chances of rescuing the hostages are “50/50.”
Asked about the possibility of a deal, the official said, “the conditions are in place.” But efforts to reach a deal with Hamas—which has been largely mediated by Qatar—have been slow, in no small part because it takes too long to get information from Doha to Hamas.
Majed Al-Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar's Foreign Ministry and adviser to the Qatari prime minister, told CNN on Saturday that Israel's escalation of ground operations was making the situation "significantly more difficult to resolve."
Israel insists that stepping up ground operations could put more pressure on Hamas and thus could be helpful in efforts to rescue the hostages.
This approach may have some advantages, a US official said.
Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser, said on Sunday that Hamas “has not shown any willingness to release the hostages,” but the US government still believes it.
“While we can see Israel beginning to press ahead with its ground campaign, this decision does not change the position that hostage rescue is the highest priority that we continue to strive to achieve,” Mr. Sullivan said.
Negotiations often revolve around the release of hostages in exchange for the release of prisoners held by Israel, an inside source said.
Al-Ansari, the Qatari spokesman, also said there had been some discussion about “exchanging prisoners” in exchange for the release of the hostages.
The source also said the negotiations included a request for Hamas to open the Rafah crossing to allow multinationals to leave Gaza.
“We are optimistic that negotiations are moving towards all civilian hostages,” al-Ansari said. “But obviously, the situation is very volatile… And, we don’t know what might happen.”
Although talks continue, many are skeptical about Hamas's seriousness about the negotiations, a senior US official said.
Nguyen Quang Minh (according to CNN)
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