US making intense effort to get hostages out of Gaza, says official

U.S. officials are making intense efforts to gain the release of hostages being held by Hamas militants in Gaza but there is no guarantee of success or a timeframe, a senior Biden administration official said on Friday.
The official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said there was “indirect engagement” aimed at finding a way to get the hostages out, but that the work was extremely difficult.
Hamas, which rules the Palestinian Gaza Strip, killed 1,400 people and took more than 240 others hostage in an Oct. 7 assault in southern Israel.
Many of the hostages are still being held in Gaza, where the Israeli military has launched air strikes and a ground assault and imposed a siege.
The official said it would require a “very significant pause in the conflict” to get the hostages out.