Israel-Gaza updates: 17 more hostages released, including 4-year-old American girl, officials say

President Joe Biden released a statement Tuesday night thanking Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar and President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt for their "critical leadership and partnership" in helping to broker a deal between Hamas and Israel over the release of hostages.

Biden also thanked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his commitment to the temporary pause ensuring the deal can be carried out and "bring home additional American hostages." Biden said he "will not stop until they are all released."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was "pleased and relieved" over being "close" to seeing the release of the first 50 out of 240 hostages.

Schumer said he will continue working for the release of the remaining hostages, and called it a "positive development" that the pause in fighting will allow aid to flow to Palestinians in Gaza.

Biden said as president he has "no higher priority than ensuring the safety of Americans held hostage around the world."

Three Americans are expected to be part of the initial group of hostages that will be released as part of a deal negotiated between Hamas, Israel, Qatar and the United States, according to a senior administration official.

They include 3-year-old Abigail Mor Idan, who was orphaned by the Oct. 7 attack and whose birthday is on Friday, the official said.

The deal will see the release of 50 hostages -- women and children -- over the course of several days.

Officials would not get into specifics about the number of additional Americans believed to be held hostage -- only reiterating that there are 10 unaccounted-for Americans.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle and Justin Gomez

Israel's Cabinet has approved a deal that would allow for the release of at least 50 hostages over the course of a four-day pause in hostilities, Israel's Prime Minister said early Wednesday morning. As a part of this deal, 150 Palestinian prisoners will also be released by Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a release the “Israeli government has approved the outline to the first phase” of bringing hostages home, with at least 50 being released over the course of the four-day pause in fighting.

The Government of Israel, the IDF and the Israeli security forces will continue to fight the war for the return of all hostages, the elimination of Hamas and to ensure that Gaza will not pose a threat to Israel, according to Netanyahu.

Earlier, sources told ABC News 42 hostages would be released.

A short while later, Hamas released its own statement early Wednesday morning local time, which had some of the same terms announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hamas confirmed via Telegram a temporary cease-fire of four days, with the release of 50 women and children who’ve been held hostage.
In exchange, Hamas said Israel agreed to release 150 Palestinian women and children. Hamas said the juveniles released would be under 19 years old.

The U.S. expects that Abigail Edan, an orphaned 3-year-old Israeli-American who was kidnapped by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, would be among the hostages released as part of any initial deal between Israel and Hamas, according to a U.S. official familiar with negotiations. However, the Biden administration hasn’t received any reliable guarantee that she or any of the missing Americans will be freed in the arrangement, the official said.

The official said there are many significant concerns surrounding the hostages' passage out of Gaza, and that moving the hostages out of the enclave as quickly as possible would be necessary for their protection and to facilitate ongoing talks.

While American negotiators are currently zeroed-in on securing an initial deal -- rather than focusing on subsequent swaps that might happen in exchange for a longer pause -- Hamas is expected to provide information about the conditions of hostages that will remain in custody, which could be critical in shaping the strategy going forward, the official said.

5:07

Israel government hoping to secure release of hostages: Senior official A senior Israeli government official tells ABC News that Israel’s government will begin voting to approve a hostage deal with Hamas today.

ABCNews.com

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford