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Efforts to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza and broker a long-term cessation of fighting as President Joe Biden sends a chief hostage negotiator to Europe for multiparty talks on a possible agreement. is at an important crossroads.
CIA Director Bill Burns’ talks in the coming days with the intelligence chiefs of Israel and Egypt and the prime minister of Qatar are a sign of continued progress as the White House presses for a deal.
It remains to be seen whether a deal will be finalized, with officials warning that talks so far have been shaky and that obstacles remain to reaching a deal that all parties can agree on. .
A key issue is that Israel is adamant that it cannot agree to a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, a key demand of Hamas. It is unclear how this large difference will be resolved.
Still, progress was made on the terms of the three-phase hostage deal, which included the release of civilians, soldiers, and the bodies of hostages who died in captivity.
Burns’ talks with Mossad chief David Balnea, Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani are scheduled to take place in France over the weekend, two sources said. It is said that The CIA declined to comment on his trip.
Burns and Balnea were central figures in a November agreement that resulted in a week-long cessation of fighting in exchange for the release of more than 100 hostages.
The talks are the latest in a series of recent diplomatic efforts to free more than 100 remaining hostages in a move toward a longer-term cessation of hostilities. The activities represent the most intensive effort in months to forge an agreement that could significantly change the trajectory of the war in Gaza.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, speaking from the White House on Friday afternoon, said ongoing talks have been productive but have not yet reached a point of success.
“We’re hopeful for progress, but we don’t expect, and we shouldn’t expect, imminent progress,” Kirby said.
He said Friday that Biden discussed ongoing hostage negotiations with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
“We will continue to do everything in our power to facilitate new hostage transactions, as we did in November,” Kirby said.
He said White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGuirk was scheduled to return to Washington on Friday from meetings in the region.
Mr Kirby described the talks as “a series of good discussions”.
“At every level, including the president, we are doing everything in our power to bring mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters back to their families,” Kirby said. “Our thoughts are with them, of course with their loved ones, and with all the innocent Palestinians who continue to be caught up in this war.”
The Qatari prime minister is scheduled to visit Washington next week, a diplomatic source told CNN. Qatar has served as a key intermediary in negotiations with Hamas.
U.S. officials are now hoping for a long-term cessation of fighting, which will allow room for more humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza, as well as ongoing concerns about the future of Israel’s operations against Hamas and the future of Gaza. I believe that it will be possible to have a meaningful discussion.
Qatar, Egypt and the United States are working to find common ground in proposals submitted by both Hamas and Israel several weeks ago, according to people familiar with the ongoing talks. Over the past week, Qatar has sent back ideas to other countries, including a two-month ceasefire period to gradually release hostages.
The remaining women, children and elderly people will be released first, followed by the bodies of Israeli soldiers and hostages in stages.
In return, Palestinians held in Israeli prisons would be released in a roughly 3-to-1 exchange, similar to an agreement struck last year, another source familiar with the matter said, He said the process would take about a month.
Each step would involve a pause in fighting and the provision of aid to the north and south of Gaza.
obstacles remain
The biggest stalemate for Hamas is Israel’s refusal to discuss ending the war after a temporary ceasefire. The official said Israel’s focus is trying to negotiate one step at a time, including with a moratorium and the release of prisoners, while Hamas is trying to reach an agreement that Israel agrees to end its war with Hamas. The company is promoting a comprehensive plan that includes the following:
As part of the proposal currently being discussed, the end of the hostage release process would be accompanied by a permanent ceasefire, to which Israel is unwilling to agree.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have said the war could last through this year, if not into 2025. And Netanyahu has increasingly made public his rejection of a Palestinian state, a priority of Biden’s. And the United States.
The Biden administration has been publicly pressuring Israel to move its operations to a lower intensity phase, including a phone call between Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Apart from the Biden administration’s own interest in freeing the six Israeli-American hostages, U.S. officials believe that the cease-fire agreement and hostage release could lead to a significant decline in the fighting that would help the flow of humanitarian aid and allow Palestinians to enter the country. We believe this will be the key to a temporary suspension. Many houses were destroyed.
However, there are at least three main mediators, plus two main parties with their own priorities, resulting in complex ideas, proposals, and initiatives being put forward.
“These things are very fluid and change from moment to moment,” the official said.
It remains to be seen whether all parties can reach an agreement, and the talks come amid renewed tensions between Israel and Qatar in the wake of leaked recordings in which Netanyahu allegedly criticized the Gulf state. It will be held in
Burns and McGuirk’s talks with regional stakeholders come amid heightened tensions between Israel and Qatar over a leaked recording of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticizing Qatar.
In a recording aired on Israeli television, a voice purported to be Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Qatar as “problematic.” He also said he was “very angry with the Americans” for renewing the lease on a military base in Qatar without extracting concessions regarding the hostages. CNN has not been able to confirm whether the audio in the leaked recording is from Benjamin Netanyahu.
In response to the tape, Qatar said Prime Minister Netanyahu was undermining mediation efforts in the Israel-Hamas war.
The White House on Thursday reiterated its gratitude to Qatar, which has been a key mediator in the hostage negotiations, following the leak of the recording.
“Qatar is an important partner in the region. We are grateful for their support in our continued efforts to get the hostages out of Gaza and reunite them with their families,” Kirby said in a statement Thursday night. Stated.
This article has been updated with additional reporting.
CNN’s Katie Bo Lillis contributed reporting.
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