White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby confirmed ongoing efforts to secure a new hostage release deal, making comments alluding to this effort special envoy Brett McGurk arrived in Doha, Qatar, for discussions related to the matter.

“What I can tell you is we’re working on this very diligently. Don’t want to get ahead of where we are, but we’re having very fairly serious and intensive discussions in Qatar about the possibility of another deal,” Kirby told reporters.

“We’re hopeful it can bear fruit and bear fruit soon,” he added.

The backdrop to these talks involves recent reports of Qatar-mediated discussions between Israel and Hamas concerning a new deal for hostage release. Qatar, in collaboration with Egypt, previously played a key role in mediating the first hostage release deal in November. Among the proposals reportedly under consideration is one that involves the exile of Hamas leaders, the phased release of all hostages, and the withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip.

It has been previously reported that Hamas presented a proposal to Israel for the release of hostages, which includes the condition of an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, but the proposal was rejected by Israel.

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