JNS
Biden’s effort to bring about an Israel-Hamas agreement received newfound urgency on Sunday.
The Biden administration is preparing a final “take it or leave it” hostages-for-ceasefire-and-terrorists-release deal that it will offer to Israel and Hamas in the coming weeks. If it fails, America will walk away from the talks, U.S. officials said.
“You can’t keep negotiating this. This process has to be called at some point,” a senior Biden official told The Washington Post.
President Joe Biden’s effort to bring about a Gaza agreement received newfound urgency on Sunday after Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six hostages, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a dual U.S. citizen. Terrorists murdered the hostages shortly before Israeli forces could reach them.
Biden officials say it's not clear whether the discovery of the six hostages would make it more or less likely for Israel and the Hamas terrorist group to reach agreement.
“Does it derail the deal? No. If anything, it should add additional urgency in this closing phase, which we were already in,” the official said.
“U.S. officials are going to be burning up the phones over the next 48 hours to see if a deal can still be reached,” a second senior U.S. official told the Post.
Israelis reacted with anger after the hostages' bodies were recovered and many blamed the Netanyahu government for the failure to reach an agreement. An estimated 30,000 demonstrators protested in Tel Aviv on Sunday night.
The Histadrut labor federation, representing roughly 800,000 Israeli trade unionists, declared a 24-hour general strike starting at 6 a.m. on Monday. Ben-Gurion International Airport called a halt to departures, initially from 8 to 10 a.m. It has since extended the strike. Hospitals have moved to reduced Sabbath operations. Ports will only offload expendable items and medical supplies.
The Histadrut threatened to extend the strike for an unspecified number of days. The government has submitted a request to the National Labor Court to halt the strike, arguing that it is political in nature and therefore illegal.
Biden has been pushing a ceasefire deal for months, sending CIA Director William J. Burns, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk many times to work with Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes a "permanent" ceasefire, arguing it would allow Hamas to survive, rebuild its forces and attack when it wishes. But he is prepared to accept a temporary ceasefire to free the remaining 100 or so hostages.
Netanyahu also opposes Hamas's demand that Israel leave the Philadelphi Corridor, the area along Gaza's border with Egypt, which has served as a conduit for smuggling weapons to Hamas.
The prime minister's view is held by his entire Security Cabinet, with the exception of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who on Thursday voted against a Cabinet decision to hold the border area in any deal and called on Sunday for the decision to be reversed after the corpses of the six hostages were discovered.
The Netanyahu government argues that the best way to free the captives is through continued military pressure. The prime minister on Sunday said that the execution of the six hostages proves that Hamas isn't interested in a deal.
“In recent days, as Israel has been holding intensive negotiations with the mediator in a supreme effort to reach a deal, Hamas is continuing to steadfastly refuse all proposals. Even worse, at the exact same time, it murdered six of our hostages,” he said.
“Whoever murders hostages—does not want a deal. For our part, we will not relent. The government of Israel is committed, and I am personally committed, to continue striving towards a deal that will return all of our hostages and ensure our security and our existence,” he added.
Former U.S. Mideast envoy Dennis Ross told the Post that Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar is unlikely to yield to pressure.
“For now, [Sinwar] will wait to see whether the general strike in Israel leads to a softening of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s conditions,” Ross said.
