IntelBrief: Diplomacy Aims to Secure Hundreds of Hostages Caught Up in Gaza War Fighting

Bottom Line Up Front

• Working through various diplomatic channels, the United States and Qatar are continuing to actively engage with Israel and Hamas at the highest levels in order to secure the release of hostages in Gaza, as negotiations take place around the clock.
• So far, only five of the 242 hostages taken on October 7 have been released, while Hamas has claimed that more than one-fifth have been killed by Israeli airstrikes.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that any potential ceasefire would be predicated on Hamas first releasing Israeli hostages after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pushed, unsuccessfully, for a “humanitarian pause” to allow hostages to be freed and emergency aid to enter Gaza.
• While senior Israeli officials have argued their intense military campaign will pressure Hamas to release hostages, skeptics have said this will endanger the hostages, who are thought to be held near Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) personnel and infrastructure.