Posted on 10/31/23
| News Source: Arutz-7
Ynet reports that American officials are still attempting to close a deal with Hamas for the release of the American citizens held in Gaza. According to one senior official, the IDF operation is hampering the negotiations and they have only a 50% chance of success.
The US negotiations include Israel, Egypt, Hamas, and Qatar, where Mossad director David Barnea recently visited. The US official claimed that they doubt Hamas is serious about the negotiations, adding "It is Hamas, after all."
"The parameters are all there," said a senior American official about a potential deal, but the negotiation efforts with Hamas, significantly mediated by the Qataris, are slow. "Not least due to the fact that it simply takes a long time for messages to be transmitted to Hamas," he explained. The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar and adviser to the Prime Minister of Qatar told CNN on Tuesday that Israel's "escalation in the field," as he put it, significantly complicates the situation.
Senior officials in Israel, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, have said that the expanding ground operation exerts additional pressure on Hamas, and therefore may ultimately be beneficial in the ongoing efforts to free the hostages. An American official pointed out that this position has some merit.
In his meeting with families of abductees in the "Kirya" base in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening, Gallant told them: "I have two goals: to return the hostages and to win the war. Everything else is less important right now." According to him, "If there is no military pressure on Hamas, nothing will progress."
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated: "Even though we started to see Israel moving on the ground, it did not change our basic concept. Releasing the hostages must remain a top priority." He added that there is a "safe route" being planned to remove the hostages from Gaza.
An official familiar with the discussions said that the talks between all parties focused, among other things, on the release of the abductees in exchange for the security prisoners imprisoned in Israel. The spokesman of the Qatari Foreign Ministry commented on the possibility of a prisoner exchange, saying: "We are optimistic. The talks are aimed more at the civilian hostages, but it is clear that this is a fluid situation and we still do not know what will happen."