Kirby suggests 'pause' allowed 2 American hostages out, US looking to secure more 'pauses'
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby on Thursday suggested that Israel agreed to a temporary pause in order for the two American hostages to be safely freed last month and said the U.S. would be working toward securing more pauses.
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"The president already worked on one such pause when we were able to get those two Americans out. And that's, that's what we're kind of looking at," Kirby added. "When we're talking about humanitarian pause, what we're talking about are temporary, localized pauses in the fighting to meet a certain goal or goals -- as I said, get aid in, get people out."
He said the administration is exploring "as many pauses as might be necessary to continue to get aid out, and to continue to work to get people out safely, including hostages."
Israeli officials said there are 242 hostages in Gaza.
![PHOTO: People hold banners with pictures of hostages that were seized by Hamas, as they protest outside a meeting held by Israeli President Herzog with families of hostages during a deadly infiltration from the Gaza Strip, in Jerusalem, Oct. 29, 2023.](https://i.abcnewsfe.com/a/81d9f5e6-f052-4bee-9269-0fb4c0b60d90/israel-gaza-hostages-rt-lv-231029-2_1698598301521_hpEmbed_3x2.jpg)
Kirby stressed that the administration isn't "advocating for a general cease-fire at this point."
"We believe that a general cease-fire would benefit Hamas in providing them breathing space and time to continue to plot and execute attacks on the Israeli people," he said.
-ABC News' Fritz Farrow