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00:00 Well, the US has been very stumped for weeks.
00:02 Understandably, it's a very sensitive situation.
00:05 However, the press got off a call earlier
00:08 with a senior administration official
00:10 who really laid out what's been going on behind the scenes.
00:13 And let me tell you, it has been weeks of back and forth
00:16 between Qatar, the US, Israel, and Hamas.
00:19 Qatar, of course, being the only party
00:21 which has a direct line to Hamas.
00:23 They've actually been in talks for this fifth negotiation
00:26 with 50 hostages for around five weeks, as it is at the moment.
00:30 And that really gives you an idea
00:32 of how granular the details are of these negotiations.
00:35 And the chief hang up was actually
00:38 who was going to be released.
00:39 Hamas at one point refused to give any details
00:42 of the people who would be released.
00:44 That included their age, their nationality as well.
00:47 And it wasn't until that information ultimately was given
00:49 that things could start to move ahead.
00:52 We also found out that it was because of a bit of US pressure
00:55 that Netanyahu also really went for this deal.
00:58 There was, again, back and forth,
00:59 but it was ultimately Joe Biden saying to Netanyahu,
01:01 look, I think you need to take this deal.
01:04 Netanyahu was quite hesitant about it.
01:07 He actually then said himself, Netanyahu,
01:09 at the opening of that war cabinet meeting
01:11 overnight on Tuesday, that it was because of Joe Biden
01:14 that Israel was paying a lower price, as you were,
01:17 that 150 Palestinians that would be released,
01:20 and really gave some credit to Joe Biden for that as well.
01:23 However, once that negotiation with Joe Biden
01:25 and the lowering of the price for Israel had gone on,
01:28 there was another breakdown in communication
01:30 when Hamas just dropped communication
01:33 and stopped talking to the Egyptians
01:34 and also to the Qatari mediators.
01:37 And ultimately, it got all the way up to this weekend
01:40 when the US said, listen, this is the last deal
01:43 that's going to happen.
01:44 And it fell to the Emir of Qatar to talk to Hamas and say,
01:47 this is the final deal.
01:48 There will be nothing more after this.
01:50 And that is after the Israelis had looked over
01:51 the details of this deal.
01:53 Ultimately, it was accepted by Hamas
01:55 and then sent to the Israelis on Tuesday morning
01:58 when the Israelis had time to really mull it over.
02:01 And Netanyahu put it to the war cabinet once again
02:03 to finalize it.
02:04 It was obviously approved and sent to Qatar,
02:07 who then officially announced that it was happening.
02:09 And it was then that the United States government
02:11 finally said that they were happy this deal was happening.
02:14 Joe Biden saying, today's deal is a testament
02:17 to the tireless diplomacy and determination
02:19 of many dedicated individuals
02:20 across the United States government
02:22 bring Americans home just in time for Thanksgiving.