"We're closer now than we've been before," White House spokesman John Kirby said of a hostage agreement. The Palestinian militant group Hamas took about 240 hostages during its Oct. 7 rampage into Israel that killed 1,200 people. The Washington Post on Saturday reported a deal had been agreed but the White House and Israel denied that. Hamas' raid on Oct. 7, the deadliest day in Israel's 75-year-old history, prompted Israel to invade the Palestinian territory to target Hamas. Hospital staff denied there were any armed militants on the premises.

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Persons: Joseph Campbell, Israel, Joe Biden, We're, we've, John Kirby, Mirjana Spoljaric, Cross, Ismail Haniyeh, United States Michael Herzog, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman, Thani, Jon, Gaza's, Witnesses, WAFA, Beit Lahia, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Al Shifa, Shifa, U.N, Antonio Guterres, Idres Ali, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Nations, Fund, UNICEF, REUTERS, Red Cross, Indonesian, U.S, Palestinian, International Committee, Reuters, Qatar's, Washington Post, White, House, Press, Gaza's Hamas, Indonesian Hospital, Health, Health Organisation, Israeli Defence Forces, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Tel Aviv, Israel, Qatar, Gaza, GAZA, JERUSALEM, United States, Gaza City, Geneva, Hamas, Israel's, Jakarta, Palestinian, Beit, Gaza's, Egypt