Next month US president Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia. He wants the Gaza war behind him by then, with a deal in place to end the fighting and the hostages returned home, so he can focus on a new regional order, including normalisation between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
In recent weeks it appeared that Trump had given Israel a green light to carry out whatever actions it deemed appropriate in Gaza. Munitions to Israel held up by the Biden administration were released and many analysts in Israel believed a resumption of the war was just a matter of time.
However, a series of weekend interviews by the US envoy for hostages, Adam Boehler, revealed that he is engaged in direct negotiations with senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya in Doha aimed at securing the release of 10 living hostages – half of all the living hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023 – in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire and the renewed flow of humanitarian aid. Those to be released would include US citizen Edan Alexander.
Israel is angry that Washington is engaging directly with Hamas although Boehler insisted Israel was aware of the contacts. He also said some progress had been made in the talks, with Hamas proposing a five- to 10-year ceasefire in which the militant group would lay down its arms and would not initiate any military action and would not take part in any political activity. “I thought that this was an opening proposal that was not at all bad,” he said.
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Boehler also acknowledged Israel’s frustration over Washington’s contacts with Hamas. “I understand why the Israelis are upset, but we are the United States – we are not Israel’s agents, and we have our own interests,” he said.
[ Israel’s halt to food and aid deliveries worsens Gaza conditionsOpens in new window ]
Israeli officials criticised Boehler’s approach as “naive”, warning that Hamas could not be trusted. They also expressed the fear that Washington was now prioritising the five American hostages (Edan Alexander and four dead captives) ahead of the Israeli captives.
Security cabinet member Bezalel Smotrich said that despite the US efforts, a resumption of the war was inevitable.
“Adam Boehler is the hostage co-ordinator and he tried, on his own, to release hostages with American citizenship. We told him very unequivocally and we also told other administration officials that if he wants to negotiate on behalf of the Americans for what the Americans want and can give Hamas, be my guest. [But] he can’t negotiate in our name,” he said.
An Israeli delegation flew to Doha on Monday for a resumption of the ceasefire talks via Qatari mediation but expectations of progress were low. The direct talks between Washington and Hamas, on the other hand, appear to offer a better prospect for a breakthrough.
