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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is playing down claims of success by President Biden, President-elect Trump and their Middle East partners that a ceasefire and hostage release deal has been reached to stop 15 months of war.
So far, Netanyahu has delayed a vote in Israel’s security cabinet to accept the cease-fire deal, pushing back on what his office said are Hamas demands over Palestinian prisoners slated for release from Israeli prisons.
A senior Biden administration official told reporters on a call Wednesday night that “Israel accepted the prisoners who will also be released.”
The potential loopholes cast doubt on the purpose of a ceasefire and hostage deal that negotiators had hoped would begin on Sunday.
US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators are meeting in Doha on Thursday, focused on the terms of the agreement’s implementation, a senior administration official said, including humanitarian provisions, the terms of the ceasefire on fire and the specific hostages and prisoners at large.
An Israeli official told The Hill that questions remain about which Palestinian prisoners will be released, where they will go and whether they will be exiled to a location other than the Gaza Strip.
“I don’t think it will stop the deal, we’re not there,” the Israeli official said. “It’s being worked on as we speak, hopefully we’ll have 100 percent soon.”
But even if the deal does happen, there will be the possibility that the ceasefire will collapse amid accusations or violations by either side.
News of the ceasefire quickly sparked an effort by Trump and Biden to claim credit.
While Trump is credited with applying additional pressure to bridge the final gaps between Israel and Hamas, the Biden administration laid out a framework for the deal months ago. Special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff assisted Biden’s chief negotiator, Brett McGurk, during the final stages of the talks.
“We wanted to have an engagement with Prime Minister Netanyahu, which Steve went to Israel to do, came back (to Doha). I thought that was … pretty effective,” the Biden administration official said.
Trump celebrated the deal Wednesday, calling it “EPIC” and claiming credit for getting it over the finish line. The new president wants to extend the Abraham Accords with normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, but the future of Gaza has long been a sticking point.
“President Trump is very interested and focused on what he would like to call, the ‘deal of the century’ in the Middle East, which is the normalization between Saudi Arabia and other GCC states with Israel,” Firas said Maksad, Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute.
“It’s no secret in Washington that he feels shortchanged and not given enough credit for the Abraham Accords. … He thought he deserved the Nobel Prize for that.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this week said ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia are “ready to go”, but he warned that normalization went through the three phases of the ceasefire agreement towards Palestinian sovereignty and the binding of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip under Palestinian rule.
“The need for an end to the war in Gaza and a credible path to Palestinian statehood is even more pressing for Riyadh,” Blinken said.
But it is unclear whether Trump, when he takes office, will maintain pressure on Israel to adhere to the cease-fire agreement, if Jerusalem alleges violations by Hamas.
“We’ve made it very clear to the Israelis, and I want the people of Israel to hear me on this: If they have to come back, we’re with them,” Rep. Mike Waltz, Trump’s incoming national security adviser. (R-Fla.), he said on Fox News on Wednesday. “If Hamas does not live up to the terms of this agreement, we stand with them.”
Trump warned he would unleash “hell” in the Middle East if the hostages were not released, and the senior Biden administration official said Israel was understood to be escalating the war against Hamas in the Strip. Gaza “significantly,” but that the hostages would likely be killed. in the fight Qatar and Egypt have reportedly played a key role in moving Hamas toward a ceasefire.
Among the 33 hostages expected to be freed in a first phase of a ceasefire deal are two Americans: Keith Siegel, 64, and Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35. A third is expected American, Edan Alexander, be released in a second phase of the war. treat The first phase of the deal is supposed to last six weeks, during which negotiators will try to finalize the details of a more permanent peace deal.
“We’re committed to getting Edan out, and we’re committed to getting the wreckage out,” the senior administration official said. Most of the 98 hostages held by Hamas are believed to have died, although the exact number is not known.
The hostages include 94 people abducted in southern Israel during the October 7, 2023, terror attack by Hamas, the remains of two soldiers held by Hamas during the 2014 war, and two Israeli civilians who were reportedly , entered the Gaza Strip and were taken hostage. Hamas in 2014 and 2015.
