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Efforts to secure a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and release hostages are close but not yet complete, an Israeli official told The Hill on Wednesday, after Reuters reported Qatar has delivered a final agreement to both sides.
International mediators have stepped up efforts to reach a deal before President-elect Trump takes office on January 20.
Trump has warned that “all hell” will break loose in the Middle East if hostages taken by Hamas in southern Israel during the Oct. 7 terror attack are not released before he is sworn in, adding to pressure as President Biden seeks to secure a major foreign policy. win in the few days left in office.
But Hamas officials have talked about sticking points from where the Israeli army will withdraw; the size of a buffer zone between Israel and the Gaza Strip; and if I cease fire it will be permanent.
Biden stressed the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, following indirect talks between US, Israeli, Qatari, Egyptian and Hamas officials that have taken place in Doha , Qatar. Trump’s Middle East peace envoy, Steve Witkoff, has also been coordinating with the Biden team in the negotiations.
Biden’s chief negotiator, special coordinator for the Middle East Brett McGurk, is keeping Witkoff “fully informed of what we’re doing,” White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters this week past
“I can assure you that the president has directed his national security team to make sure there are no surprises as we work through this negotiation process,” he said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the US has re-intensified negotiations to reach a ceasefire before the Biden administration leaves office. The aim is to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, dead and alive, including seven Americans, and to increase humanitarian support to the Palestinians alongside a pause in the fighting. A number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are also expected to be released as part of any deal.
Israeli opposition leaders have offered Netanyahu guarantees of a political safety net, to encourage the prime minister to accept a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the face of opposition from far-right members and extremes of his coalition that oppose the agreement.
“I want to remind Netanyahu again that he doesn’t need them,” said Yair Lapid, opposition leader and head of the Yesh Atid party, referring to Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, in the Times of Israel reported.
“I offered him a political safety net for a hostage deal. That offer is valid now, more than ever. If Netanyahu wants and can make a deal, he and I know how to close the details of the safety net in half an hour,” Lapid said.
Smotrich has called the emerging ceasefire agreement a “catastrophe”
