US ‘disappointed’ that Hamas hasn’t released American hostages yet…a possible bargaining chip.

The United States expressed disappointment over the fact that the Palestinian militant group Hamas has yet to release American hostages. Some suggest that Hamas might use the American hostages as a negotiation card to extend the ceasefire period.

According to NBC on the 25th (local time), an official from the Biden administration said, “We are disappointed that we have not yet seen Americans on the (release) list,” adding, “But we are hopeful for the next two days.”

He continued, “The U.S. wants to maintain the ceasefire phase and continue hostage exchanges because we want all hostages to be released.”

Earlier, Israel and Hamas initiated a three-day provisional ceasefire from 7 a.m. on the 24th (2 p.m. Korean time on the 24th) and began to release hostages and prisoners. During the three-day provisional ceasefire period, Hamas released some of the 50 Israeli hostages and other foreign hostages, and Israel also agreed to release 150 Palestinian prisoners.

So far, over the course of two days, Hamas has released a total of 26 Israeli hostages and 15 foreign hostages, including Thais, in two separate releases. However, it is reported that no Americans have been released among the foreign hostages so far.

Before the release of the hostages, it was known that Hamas was holding about 240 hostages, and U.S. government officials previously stated that 10 Americans were missing.

Regarding this, a U.S. official mentioned that there is a “common concern” that Hamas might not release American hostages until the last day of the ceasefire period in order to pressure the U.S. to push Israel to extend the ceasefire.