US National Security Council’s Kirby: ‘We’re closer than we’ve ever been’ to new hostage deal

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington on January 11, 2024. (Saul Loeb/ AFP)
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington on January 11, 2024. (Saul Loeb/ AFP)

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says the parties are closer than they have ever been to a new hostage deal, though he stresses that one is not “imminent.”

Speaking to Channel 12 about the timeframe for a deal to be finalized, Kirby says: “There’s still a lot of diplomacy left in front of us. But we’re hoping, in the near future, to get this over the finish line. We’re closer than we’ve ever been. I would caution you from thinking that we’re sort of imminent — that it’s about to happen any day now. I don’t think it’s that close. But we are… cautiously optimistic.”

He says the deal taking shape does not provide for a permanent ceasefire, but for a protracted halt. “This would be a lengthier humanitarian pause than we saw last time… a longer, temporary pause in the fighting… [It would be] an opportunity to get more hostages out… and humanitarian assistance in.”

Kirby denies that the US is losing trust or patience in Israel’s handling of the war, saying, “We are still solidly behind our Israeli partners in their right, in their responsibility to go after Hamas, which we still recognize is a viable threat to the Israeli people. And so the support we’re providing Israel is going to continue.”

Nonetheless, he says, “we obviously want to see a reduction in civilian casualties, we want to see more humanitarian assistance get in, we want there to be care and precision in the way these operations are conducted.”

He says Israel has been “receptive” on this and has “made an effort to try to reduce the number of civilian casualties. They have relied less on air power. They have structured their ground operations in such a way as to be more targeted and precise.”

Kirby says it is put to him “all the time” that Israel “is ignoring us, that they’re not listening to us. Frankly the facts just don’t bear that out.”

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