US indicates number of living hostages released in deal’s 1st phase down following Hamas executions

A senior Biden administration official indicates that fewer living hostages will be released in the first phase of the deal as a result of Hamas’s execution of six captives last week.

“For each hostage, there’s a certain number of Palestinian prisoners that will come out, so you just have fewer hostages as part of the deal in phase one,” the official says in a briefing with reporters. “It’s tragic and awful, and it’s affecting all of us.”

Roughly 30 hostages are slated to be released in the first phase from the following three categories: women, elderly and sick. Hamas has offered to release the bodies of hostages, while Israel has sought to secure the release of hostages from other categories to maximize the number of living captives freed in the first phase.

Asked whether the US can maintain its heavy deterrence force posture in the Middle East for an extended period, the US official asserts that this is not an issue.

“That deterrent posture will adjust and go up and down over time, depending on events, but we are ready and able to sustain what we’re doing,” he says.