White House Confirms Progress in Hostage Talks with Hamas

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed Thursday that there had been progress in hostage talks with Hamas after the Palestinian terrorist organization gave in on several key demands.

Sullivan is on a visit to the Middle East in the wake of the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said earlier in the week that Israel’s success against Iran and its proxies — including Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Syrian regime — had left Hamas isolated and increasingly ready to make a deal.

In addition, President-elect Donald Trump recently warned Hamas that there would be “ALL HELL TO PAY” if the 100 remaining Israeli hostages, including several with U.S. citizenship, were not released by the time he takes office.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Hamas had given in on several key concessions, including allowing Israel to maintain a military presence in key portions of the Gaza Strip, and providing a list of hostages to be freed:

Hamas has yielded to two of Israel’s key demands for a cease-fire deal in Gaza, Arab mediators said, raising hopes of an agreement that could release some hostages within days despite the repeated collapse of previous negotiations.

The militant group told mediators for the first time that it would agree to a deal that would allow Israeli forces to remain in Gaza temporarily when the fighting stops. Hamas also handed over a list of hostages, including U.S. citizens, whom it would release under a cease-fire pact, something it hasn’t done since the first truce in the conflict last year.

Israel has managed to rescue some of the hostages, but there have been no releases since an eight-day truce last November that Hamas broke by renewing its rocket attacks against Israeli civilian population centers. Hamas has, until now, refused to agree to any further deals unless Israel gives up its war against the terrorist group and allows it to return to power in Gaza. Israel has described those demands as non-starters.

Now, Hamas appears to be yielding.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.