Hostage negotiations: US sees deal within reach, Israel ‘cautiously’ optimistic while Hamas decries ‘dictates’

Israeli source cautions: Hamas hasn't responded yet, could undo everything

Read this article in:

After two days of high-level negotiations over an agreement intended to bring about a truce in the Gaza War and the release of 115 Israeli hostages remaining in Hamas captivity, the mediating countries seem convinced a deal is now within reach, with Israeli representatives agreeing with caution.

On the other hand, the Hamas terrorist organization, which didn’t send representatives to the summit held in Doha, criticized the talks as “American dictates.”

After the summit, which was called by their three countries, the leaders from the United States, Qatar and Egypt spoke on the phone, the U.S. White House confirmed.

“There was a consensus between all three leaders that this process is now in the end game,” said a senior U.S. official said.

Speaking with the news outlet Axios, he added, “If you continue negotiating for months and months and try to get a perfect deal, or every last drop of blood from the stone, you risk having no hostages left to save.”

U.S. President Joe Biden also showed great optimism in recent statements, telling reporters on Friday, “I’m optimistic. It’s far from over. Just a couple more issues. I think we’ve got a shot.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu concurred, with Israel’s negotiating team expressing to him its “cautious optimism regarding the possibility of progress,” according to a statement released by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Saturday evening.

After updating Netanyahu on the talks, the team expressed cautious optimism that the deal, based on the "American proposal" and adjusted to address Netanyahu's red lines, could move forward.

“It is hoped that the heavy pressure on Hamas by the United States and the mediators will remove its opposition to the American proposal and will lead to a breakthrough in the talks,” the PMO stated.

However, a senior member of the team somewhat dampened the hopes during an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 news. While agreeing there was “significant progress on several issues,” he also cautioned: “Since Hamas has not yet returned an answer, everything is in question.”

According to the unnamed source, the “creative” framework, which was laid out by the U.S. mediators and transmitted to the Hamas leadership within Gaza, allowed Israel sufficient room for flexibility.

Working delegations of the Mossad, the IDF and Shin Bet remained in Qatar, he added, while another Israeli team will leave for Cairo, Egypt tomorrow with the goal of closing the entire agreement by Wednesday, according to Channel 12.

The Times of Israel also reported that the Cairo talks aimed to reach an agreement by the end of the coming week, with mediators believing that the proposal presented by the U.S. on Friday had closed all remaining gaps between the positions held by Hamas and Israeli leaders.

“We will be reconvening in Cairo at this level before the end of next week, with an aim to close out this process once and for all,” a senior Biden administration official told reporters.

Biden later confirmed in a statement:“Our teams will remain on the ground to continue technical work over the coming days, and senior officials will convene again in Cairo before the end of the week. They will report to me regularly.”

In contrast to the optimism shown by Israel and the mediators, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri presented a pessimistic outlook, possibly indicating that Hamas may feel pressured to agree to a deal it doesn’t want.

“The discourse about reaching a ceasefire agreement soon is an illusion. What we have heard from the brokers indicates major withdrawals from the offer on July 2nd,” he told the Qatari al-Arabi news channel.

“We are not facing a real agreement or negotiations, but the imposition of American dictates. Israel continues to frustrate all efforts to complete a cease-fire agreement, withdrawing from the previous clauses, and Washington fully embraces the Israeli position,” Abu Zuhri charged.

“I know there’s a lot of public statements from Hamas right now. I wouldn’t take anything too seriously,” the senior Biden administration official dismissed the terror group’s statements in recent days.

“Should Hamas say no, think about what they’re doing to the people of Gaza,” he said.