CNN
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The deaths of six hostages on Saturday have thrown ceasefire and hostage release negotiations between Israel and Hamas into disarray, with the White House national security adviser saying the “next few days will be crucial” in the release of those held by Hamas.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told families of the American hostages in an online meeting on Sunday that the administration would “work around the clock to reach an agreement to secure the release of the remaining hostages,” according to a summary of the discussions released by the families.
U.S. officials said the deaths of hostages held by militants in an Oct. 7 Hamas attack would not derail the talks, but instead added new urgency to reaching an agreement to end the war between Israel and Hamas and allow those held captive to return home.
After the Israeli military said it had found the bodies of six hostages killed in Gaza, the Israeli and US governments scrambled to respond. As protests against the Israeli government raged across the country, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement accusing Hamas of killing the six and saying the group was not serious about the ceasefire.
How that will impact the talks will become clearer in the next day or two, a person familiar with the discussions told CNN on Sunday.
“The situation is complicated,” the source said. Two weeks of joint face-to-face negotiations with various parties in both Egypt and Qatar have concluded, but the source said talks were continuing through other channels.
The White House said Sullivan met with the hostage families to discuss “ongoing diplomatic efforts at the highest levels of the U.S. government to reach an agreement.”
Still, U.S. officials acknowledged that the deaths of the six hostages added further complications to an already difficult and arduous process.
Hamas’ “seriousness” about the ceasefire agreement must now be questioned, the senior U.S. official said, adding that pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu was also growing.
U.S. officials have previously expressed frustration with what they see as Netanyahu’s resistance to reaching a deal, leading to sometimes tense conversations between President Joe Biden and his Israeli counterpart.
Still, in statements late Saturday, neither Mr. Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris had pressed Mr. Netanyahu to reach a deal, and U.S. officials were keenly aware that the pressure would come from within Israel.
The White House said Biden and Harris will meet in the Situation Room on Monday for the U.S. team to negotiate the agreement.
Israeli and US officials told CNN that at least three of the hostages killed, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, were set to be released as part of the first phase of a ceasefire agreement, meaning negotiators will have to renegotiate the list of hostages to be released in that first phase of the deal.
“US officials were working with Qatar and Egypt on a final agreement that would have included Hersh as well as the hostages who were just executed. This comes at a time when pressure is increasing on Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu personally, raising questions about how serious Hamas is about the deal,” a senior US official said on Sunday.
After the bodies were found, Biden continued to express hope for a ceasefire agreement, saying negotiators were “close to an agreement” and that “it’s time to end this war.”
“We believe we can get an agreement done. They all said they agree in principle,” he added.
However, in the wake of the hostages’ discovery, the future of the long-awaited ceasefire agreement remains unclear.
A source familiar with the talks said recent face-to-face talks had not produced any progress but new ideas are due to be presented to Israel and Hamas.
The latest round of talks has included high-level meetings and low-level technical negotiations in Doha, Qatar and Cairo, attended by CIA Director Bill Burns. The leaders of the intermediary nations, the United States, Qatar and Egypt, issued a joint statement on August 16 saying the talks were scheduled to “conclude” the following week.
Under increasing pressure from Israelis, Netanyahu met with the hostages’ families on Sunday and also released a taped message in which he accused Hamas of “killing in cold blood” six hostages and said “those who kill hostages do not want an agreement.”
He added that he and the Israeli government “will continue to work toward an agreement that will release all hostages and guarantee our safety and survival.”
The prime minister said Israel would continue to pursue Hamas, accusing it of not wanting serious negotiations since December last year.
“Three months ago, on May 27, Israel agreed to a hostage release deal with the full support of the United States. Hamas rejected it. After the United States updated the outline of the deal on August 16, we agreed, but Hamas rejected it again.”
Anger is growing across Israel, particularly against Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is “worried” about the protests across the country, an Israeli official told CNN.
That outpouring of anger and grief swelled into mass demonstrations on Sunday in and around Tel Aviv, what organizers later described as a “never-ending sea of protesters.” The protesters hold Hamas responsible for the deaths of the hostages in an Oct. 7 attack, but they also criticize Netanyahu’s handling of the crisis and say he has not done enough to secure a hostage ceasefire agreement.
The Forum of Hostages and Missing Families called for a “stand down” from Israel following the news of the hostages’ killings, urging countries to pressure the government to sign an agreement to release the remaining hostages before they are also killed. Meanwhile, the country’s largest labor union has called for a nationwide strike on Monday, saying “the entire Israeli economy will come to a halt.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Tamar Michaelis, Kevin Liptak, Sam Fossum and Samantha Woldenberg contributed to this report.