US President Joe Biden is “personally involved” in a deal to free about 50 hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
John Kirby, Strategic Communications Coordinator of the National Security Council, said this in an interview.
The release of the hostages, delayed until at least Friday, will be accompanied by Israel’s release of 150 Palestinian prisoners, a temporary ceasefire for several days and the delivery of more humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“The president was personally involved at the executive level to see if we could implement that agreement,” Kirby said. “In fact, he spoke with the Emir of Qatar last week when we were in San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. That is why he is personally involved and participated.”
According to Kirby, Biden received regular updates, sometimes several times a day, on the progress of the negotiations.
“You have the entire national security team working hard on this issue, from the CIA director to the secretary of state to the national security advisor,” Kirby continued. “Our special envoy on the ground, David Satterfield, and our Middle East coordinator, Brett McGurk, played a key role. So it really was a team effort.”
Kirby also rejected China’s recent diplomatic efforts to end the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Analysts have seen these attempts as Beijing’s desire to position itself as a peacemaker with more authority in the Middle East than the United States.