Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed the families of hostages in Gaza that an agreement to secure the release of their loved ones might be imminent, according to a statement from his office on Tuesday.
"The conditions are undoubtedly ripening. This is a good sign," Netanyahu told the families on Monday in Washington, where he was expected to meet U.S. President Joe Biden later this week after addressing Congress. Efforts to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza, proposed by Biden in May and mediated by Egypt and Qatar, have gained momentum over the past month. On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stated that negotiators were "driving toward the goal line."
Ruby Chen, father of dual U.S.-Israeli citizen Itai Chen, a soldier whose body is being held in Gaza, was among the family members who met with Netanyahu. "He did say that conditions were ripening but I'm taking that with a pinch of salt," Chen told Israeli Army Radio. Chen expressed hope that Biden, who withdrew his bid for reelection and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate in the November vote, would exert more pressure on Netanyahu to secure the deal.
The Islamist militant group Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Hamas and other militants are still holding 120 hostages, around a third of whom have been declared dead in absentia by Israeli authorities. The death toll among Palestinians in Israel's retaliatory offensive since then has reached more than 39,000, according to Gaza health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave. More than 105 hostages were released during a week-long truce in November, in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
