Inside the 'excruciating' work of a secret US cell that secured the release of 50 hostages

WASHINGTON — The deal between Israel and Hamas for the release of 50 hostages from Gaza capped an "extremely excruciating five-week process," a senior U.S. official said, with President Joe Biden directly involved in negotiations that nearly collapsed as recently as last week.

A "cell" of aides to Biden worked secretly behind the scenes to negotiate a deal while hostage families have desperately sought answers about their loved ones.

The group's work culminated Wednesday morning with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet approving an agreement to pause fighting in the Gaza Strip for four days and release 150 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 50 women and children to be freed from Hamas captivity.

Israel has also agreed to extend the temporary cease-fire for one day for every 10 additional hostages Hamas lets out.

 

The structure of the deal − with Qatar and Egypt acting as key intermediaries − came together last weekend after a series of fits and starts in negotiations including communications going completely dark with Hamas earlier in the week. With nearly 200 hostages remaining in Gaza following the deal, negotiations still aren't over.

"We are determined to get them all out. That has been a main demand of this deal," the same U.S. official told reporters ahead of the deal's approval.
 

A 'gut-wrenching' meeting between Biden and hostage families

The deal is a massive breakthrough in diplomatic efforts to free the approximately 240 hostages militants kidnapped by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack. Only four hostages, including two Americans, have been released so far. A fifth hostage was rescued by Israeli forces.

In mid-October, the secret cell was assembled by Brett McGurk, the National Security Council's Middle East coordinator and Joshua Geltzer, a deputy assistant to the president. Its formation came at the request of Israeli and Qatar, both of which demanded "extreme discretion and sensitivity," the official said.

Since those early days, the group maintained daily, and sometimes hourly, engagements with each other and Qatar and Egypt.

There were also teams on the ground that worked to corroborate the information that they were receiving on the hostages, the U.S. official said.

One of the complications of securing the captives' release is that it's not always clear who is held by whom. While Hamas holds a majority of the hostages, another armed militant group, Islamic Jihad, is also holding hostages, including children. 
 

Qatar, a tiny but wealthy Persian Gulf nation that has played the role of international mediator in other sensitive negotiations, took on the role of intermediary in the hostage talks.

Qatari officials held discussions with Hamas, Israeli and U.S. officials about the fate of the hostages.

David Barnea, who heads Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad, was reportedly in Qatar for part of the discussions. Mediators for Qatar shuttled between Mossad's Barnea and Hamas leaders to try to secure the hostages’ release.

Israel has no formal diplomatic relations with Qatar but acknowledged its role in the hostage negotiations.

“Qatar is the only government that has sufficient capability and is looked upon favorably enough by both Hamas and Israel to be willing to engage with them on things like humanitarian issues,” said Jonathan Panikoff, an expert on Middle Eastern affairs with the Atlantic Council, a nonpartisan think tank based on Washington.

Biden met with families of unaccounted Americans virtually on Oct. 13, an experience that the U.S. official described as "gut-wrenching." Biden extended the length of call to hear the concerns of every family member.

The release of hostages was a primary focus of Biden’s subsequent meeting in Israel the following week with Netanyahu in which a deal was brokered for aid to be allowed into Gaza. 

In Israel, families of the hostages held an emotional meeting on Oct. 18 with Gal Hirsch, the coordinator for returning hostages and the missing on behalf of the Israeli government.

Ilan Eshel, father of Roni Eshel, a 19-year-old Israeli soldier who has been missing since Hamas' attack on Israel, demanded answers about his daughter.

"I'm asking that someone tell me eye to eye what is Roni's condition," he said. "We want to know who they are being held by and where."

Orli Gilboa, mother of Daniella Gilboa, another Israeli soldier presumed to be among those captured, made a personal appeal to Hirsch.

"I ask that you reassure me that all the bombings being carried out in Gaza are being thoroughly examined so that our loved ones will not be harmed by them," she said. "I want to know that each decision maker is looking at the situation as if it were their own child."

Hirsch assured the families that officials "are working 24 hours a day" to bring all of the hostages home.

"The State of Israel does not give up on anyone," he said. "The return of all hostages and missing is part of the war's objectives."

Early release of two Americans proved Qatar can deliver

A key moment in negotiations came Oct. 20, when Hamas released two American hostages, Judith Raanan of Evanston, Ill. and her teenage daughter Natalie. It served as a "pilot" for a larger hostage deal, the official said, giving the U.S. confidence that Qatar could deliver.

The hostage deal was a key topic of Biden’s calls with leaders of Israel, Qatar and Egypt over the next week. Proposals were traded back and forth.

An arrangement was under discussion at one point for the release of all women and children in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners on the Israeli side. But Hamas only agreed to 50 hostages, and the deal ultimately secured by the Biden administration still leaves some women and children in Gaza.

Three Americans are among the hostages set for release including 3-year-old Avigail Idan, whose parents were killed during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. The two other American hostages are both women.

Initially, Hamas refused to provide identifying information for most of the hostages, according to the official. Biden told Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, in a Nov. 12 phone call that Hamas needed to provide the ages, nationalities and genders of hostages for any agreement.

During a subsequent phone call with Qatar’s emir on Nov. 17, Biden relayed “this was the time that this had to close, and that the onus really at this moment was on Hamas,” the official said.

Once Hamas agreed to identify the hostages, Biden told Netanyahu it was time to move forward.

When communications went dark last week, Biden was in San Francisco hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Talks, though, resumed late last week. U.S. officials met in-person with Israeli and Qatar officials in Doha to finalize the details spelled out in six-page agreement.

Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly known as Twitter, @joeygarrison.

Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard