White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby stated on Friday that he believes a hostage deal could be reached before President Joe Biden's term concludes on January 20.
“Do I think it’s possible? Yes, we think it’s possible, but not without a lot of hard work still ahead of us,” Kirby said during a press call with reporters.
“We believe it is possible, but it won’t be possible without additional compromise and some hard work,” he added.
Kirby stressed that continued obstacles from Hamas are preventing the ceasefire deal from being finalized.
"That doesn't mean that they're not, that they can't be overcome, but it is, you know, they are making it difficult," he noted. "And that's the reason why, right now, we don't have this deal."
While acknowledging the possibility of reaching an agreement within the final days of Biden's presidency, Kirby refrained from confirming expectations for the deal before the next administration.
"They're still ongoing, and Brett [McGurk] is still out there. And I'm not able, nor was the president yesterday, to give you an over under here," he explained. "We're working on this really, really hard. We believe we made some progress, some progress. But that doesn't mean that the work is over."
Kirby underscored that achieving the ceasefire is a key priority for President Biden, not only to complete it before leaving office but also because "it needs to be done."
On Thursday, Biden commented on the efforts to achieve a hostage release deal in Gaza, expressing hope that a deal can be reached before January 20, when he leaves office.
“We’re making some real progress. I met with negotiators today…I think we’re seeing some progress,” Biden said during a briefing with administration officials, which dealt mostly with the wildfires in Los Angeles.
“I know hope springs eternal, but I’m still hopeful that we can have a [deal]. Hamas is the one getting in the way of that right now, but I think we may be able to get that done. We need to get it done,” he added.
A day earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that a hostage and a ceasefire deal is close.
"In the Middle East, we're very close to a ceasefire and hostage agreement," he said. "I hope that we can get it over the line in the time that we have left. But if we don't, then the plan that President Biden put forward for a ceasefire/hostage deal will be handed over to the incoming administration. And I believe that when we get that deal - and we'll get it - it will be on the basis of the plan that President Biden put before the world back in May."
He added that the Biden administration has "done an incredible amount of work on what follows a hostage and ceasefire agreement in terms of the necessary arrangements for Gaza's security, its administration, its reconstruction, a day after plan."
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)