“This deal is delivering life-saving results. Critically needed aid is going in and hostages are coming out,” Biden told reporters on Sunday. “This deal is structured so that it can be extended to keep building on these results. That’s my goal. That’s our goal: to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow.”

Biden spoke after Israel said Hamas, which controls Gaza, released another 17 hostages on Sunday, the third day of releases engineered under the temporary cease-fire. They include Abigail Idan, one of three freed captives with US citizenship, whose parents were killed in the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7 that triggered Israel’s military response in Gaza.

The deal calls for the pause in hostilities to be extended one day for every 10 hostages released, Biden said, and also allows humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza. 

“This is the day-by-day approach, hour by hour approach. Nothing is guaranteed and nothing is being taken for granted,” he told reporters in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where he spent the Thanksgiving holiday with family. 

“But the proof that this is working, and worth pursuing further, is in every smile and every grateful tear we see on the faces of those families who are finally getting back together again,” he said. “The proof is little Abigail.”

Biden said he remained hopeful about the release of all other Americans being held hostage by Hamas, which the US and the European Union have designated a terrorist group. He said he couldn’t provide a firm timeline. 

Biden said he would speak Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He committed to remaining “personally engaged” with ensure the pause was fully implemented and to work toward extending it.

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Updated: 27 Nov 2023, 12:28 AM IST