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The US was “deeply” involved in negotiating an extension to the four-day truce agreement between Israel and Hamas, the White House said on Monday, as it welcomed Qatar's announcement that the pause in fighting in Gaza would be extended for a further two days.
US President Joe Biden was “deeply engaged on this process throughout the Thanksgiving weekend”, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
Qatar and Hamas announced the two-day extension of the truce that has seen Hamas release dozens of Israeli and international hostages in exchange for more than 100 Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Another exchange was planned for Monday night.
Under the terms of the original truce agreement, a two-day extension would mean the release of 20 more hostages.
Mr Biden spoke with Emir Sheikh Tamim of Qatar at “a very critical moment to help resolve an impasse on the second day of the pause”, Mr Kirby added, declining to give details on what that impasse was.
The White House said it hopes Americans will be included in the next hostage release made possible under the truce extension, but could not confirm if that would happen.
Mr Kirby added that he believes there are “less than 10" American hostages, “but we don't necessarily have firm solid information on each and every one of them”.
The development came after Washington and the world celebrated the release of four-year-old Israeli-American Abigail Mor Edan from Hamas as part of a release of 13 more hostages.
Mr Biden on Sunday declared: “Thank God she is home.”
The US President also indicated that Washington believes “there are probably other militant groups” other than Hamas in control of the remaining hostages, but added “we are not sure”.
The pause in Israel's bombardment of Gaza, which has killed nearly 15,000 Palestinians over the past several weeks, has also allowed for an increase in aid deliveries to the enclave.
The White House said on Monday that Gaza recently received “the biggest humanitarian convoy” since October 7, which included 200 lorries “dispatched to the Rafah crossing and 137 lorries of supplies were offloaded by the United Nations”.
Mr Kirby said Washington “has prioritised getting this much needed relief in the Gaza”, despite the administration's doubling down on support for Israel and moving to provide billions more in funding to the Israeli military as it continued its air, ground, and sea campaign.
“Every single day, and this is the part of this hostage deal that probably doesn't get as much attention as it deserves, has allowed for a surge of humanitarian assistance into Gaza,” he added.
“We're going to take advantage of every hour of every day that there's a pause to try to help the people of Gaza.”
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the extension was “a glimpse of hope and humanity in the middle of the darkness of war”.
“I strongly hope that this will enable us to increase even more the humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza that is suffering so much, knowing that even with that additional amount of time, it will be impossible to satisfy all the dramatic needs of the population,” Mr Guterres said.
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