White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby spoke to US Jewish community leaders on Wednesday, and said that the US anticipates that the Israel-Hamas war will continue after the expiration of multi-day truce which was agreed upon in the hostage release deal.
“The fight is not over. The war is not over. The threat that Hamas poses is still real and still viable to the Israeli people,” Kirby told the Jewish leaders.
The US, he added, will “continue to make sure that we’re giving [Israel] the tools the capabilities the weapons systems that they need to continue to go after Hamas.”
Kirby, who spoke hours before Israel announced a delay in implementation of the hostage deal with Hamas, warned against assuming that the deal has been finalized.
“Nobody’s doing touchdown dances here. Now’s the time for everybody to watch very, very closely. Because this is this is going to come down now to implementation and execution,” he said.
Israel announced on Wednesday night that the beginning of the release of the hostages being held by Hamas will not occur before Friday, despite initial reports that the release would begin on Thursday.
An Israeli official told Kan 11 News that there is a 24-hour delay in the implementation of the agreement, because the agreement has not yet been signed by the other side - Hamas and Qatar.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the agreement was delayed because, while Hamas provided the name, gender and nationality of most of the 50 hostages it was supposed to release in the first phase, there was missing information about the fate of some of them.
In addition, the report said that Hamas did not officially sign the mechanism that would allow the release of the hostages.
The government voted on Tuesday night to approve the hostage deal with Hamas, with only the ministers from Otzma Yehudit voting against the deal.
Biden welcomed the deal in a statement released after the vote in Israel, saying, “It is important that all aspects of this deal be fully implemented.”
“As President, I have no higher priority than ensuring the safety of Americans held hostage around the world. That’s why, from the earliest moments of Hamas’ brutal assault, my national security team and I have worked closely with regional partners to do everything possible to secure the release of our fellow citizens. We saw the first results of that effort in late October, when two Americans were reunited with their loved ones. Today’s deal should bring home additional American hostages, and I will not stop until they are all released,” stated Biden.