总统乔·拜登他相信释放被哈马斯扣押在加沙的200多名人质的协议即将达成。
拜登参加了年度感恩节火鸡赦免在白宫，当他被问及是否即将达成协议时。
“我相信是这样的，但我不准备和——”拜登在被记者打断之前说道，记者追问他:“你相信是这样的?”
“是的，”拜登回答。总统然后祈祷好运。
2023年11月20日，美国总统乔·拜登在DC白宫南草坪参加一年一度的感恩节火鸡赦免仪式。
安德鲁·卡瓦列罗·雷诺兹/法新社
哈马斯在袭击中劫持了230多名人质，包括美国人10月7日对以色列社区的恐怖袭击据以色列官员称。几周以来，只有少数人质获释，包括一对拥有美国和以色列双重国籍的母女和两名以色列老年妇女。
政府表示，据信人质中有10名美国人下落不明。
根据哈马斯控制的加沙卫生部的数据，在最初的恐怖袭击中，以色列有1200多人丧生，此后，在加沙的报复行动中，又有数千人丧生或受伤。
美国国家安全委员会发言人约翰·柯比(John Kirby)周一在白宫简报会上重申，政府认为这是“比我们以往任何时候都更密切的关系”，但表示没有公开讨论的最新情况。当被问及有多少人质可能被释放或者妇女和儿童是否被优先考虑时，他拒绝透露细节。
他告诉记者:“我想在这里小心谨慎，我不想公开谈判，但如果你要确保人质获释，我们当然希望我们能够尽快做到这一点，你必须确保他们能够从他们所在的地方到达安全的地方，并尽可能安全地做到这一点，这意味着你必须至少在战斗中暂时停止局部行动，让他们能够移动。”
柯比说，政府正在“一小时一小时”地工作，并强调在“全部完成”之前，没有什么是确定的
关于潜在人质协议的时间表，一名美国官员表示，谈判进程现在已经到了可以“在任何时候”达成协议的阶段，但他警告说，谈判仍有可能破裂。
除了评估哈马斯是一个不可靠的参与者，谈判在最近几周多次破裂之外，该官员表示，还有其他几个复杂的因素可能会阻碍任何人质的最终释放，这些因素仍需要与所有相关各方共同努力。
Biden believes deal is close to free hostages in Gaza
PresidentJoe Bidensaid Monday he believes a deal is near to free some of the more than 200 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.
Biden was participating in theannual Thanksgiving turkey pardonat the White House when he was asked if an agreement was close.
"I believe so, but I'm not prepared to talk to --" Biden said before he was cut off by the reporter, who pressed him: "You believe so?"
"Yes," Biden replied. The president then crossed his fingers.
Hamas took more than 230 hostages, including Americans, during itsOct. 7 terror attack on Israeli communities, according to Israeli officials. Only a handful of hostages have been released in the weeks since, includinga mother and daughter with dual American and Israeli citizenshipandtwo elderly Israeli women.
The administration said that 10 Americans who are unaccounted for are believed to be among the hostages.
More than 1,200 people were killed in Israel during the initial terror attack and thousands more have been killed and injured in retaliatory operations in Gaza since, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby reiterated at the White House briefing Monday that the administration believes it's "closer than we've ever been," but said there are no updates to publicly discuss. He declined to get into detail when asked how many hostages may be released or whether women and children are being prioritized.
"I want to be careful here, I don't want to negotiate in public, but if you're going to secure the release of hostages, and we certainly hope we're going to be able to do that soon, you've got to make sure they can get from where they are to safety and do that as safely as possible, which means you're gonna have to have at least a temporary localized stop in the fighting to allow them to move," he told reporters.
Kirby said the administration is working "hour by hour" and emphasized nothing is set in stone until it's "all done."
On the timeline of a potential hostage deal, a U.S. official said the negotiation process had reached the stage now where an agreement could be reached "at any point" -- but warned that it could still implode as well.
Beyond the assessment that Hamas is an unreliable player and talks have collapsed multiple times in recent weeks, the official said there were several other complicating factors that could impede the eventual release of any hostages that still needed to be worked through with all parties involved.
