US Presses for Gaza Settlement as Negotiators Prepare to Meet
(Bloomberg) -- Negotiators between Israel and Hamas will meet in the coming days, as they make a renewed effort to end the devastating conflict in Gaza, according to the US and Israel.
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The US is exploring different options to restart stalled talks between the warring parties and secure the release of hostages held by the Palestinian militant group, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Qatar on Thursday.
Israel said the chief of its Mossad intelligence agency would meet with the main negotiators for the US and Qatar in Qatar next week.
An official of Hamas, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly changed his position and is prolonging the war to keep his right-wing governing coalition together. The Israeli leader has denied that and says it’s Hamas that has shown no real willingness to end the war.
Adding to uncertainty about the prospects for new talks, two hardliners in the Israeli cabinet, Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, said Thursday night that they opposed revived negotiations. Their objections matter because Netanyahu depends on them to maintain his fragile political coalition.
Blinken arrived in London Thursday night on a flight from Qatar, and plans to meet separately with the foreign ministers of Jordan, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates on Friday.
He met Netanyahu in Israel on Tuesday and Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in Riyadh on Wednesday. It was his 11th trip to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began.
The conflict has raged for more than a year, since Hamas fighters raided southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage. Israel’s subsequent offensive on Gaza has killed more than 42,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Qatar, Egypt and the US — the main interlocutors — were hopeful a deal was close about two months ago. They were working on an agreement for a phased truce and release of captives that they thought could wind down the war.
Yet the negotiations have made next to no progress since then, as Israel and Hamas accuse each other of inflexibility.
There was uncertainty about what role Egypt would play in the renewed talks. An Israeli spokesperson said earlier that Egypt would take part, then reversed that. But a statement from Netanyahu’s office expressed appreciation for Egypt’s “willingness to advance a hostage-release deal.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, said Thursday that the situation in the Middle East is worsening. Putin said a lasting peace could be achieved only through the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. “The Palestinians will never leave Gaza, just as they will never leave the West Bank,” Abbas said.
The PA controls parts of the West Bank, while Hamas is the main Palestinian governing authority in Gaza.
Israel has in recent weeks stepped up its operations in Gaza, particularly in the north. Although perhaps half of Hamas’s 35,000 fighters have been killed in the past year — according to Israeli intelligence estimates — and most of its weapons have been destroyed, it has managed to regroup in some areas.
Last week, Israel dealt another blow to Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the US and many other countries, by killing its leader, Yahya Sinwar. It’s unclear who will now be the main negotiator for Hamas, which hasn’t named a successor. Many of its most senior officials live in Qatar.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, speaking alongside Blinken, said Hamas’s negotiating position is uncertain after Sinwar’s death.
US President Joe Biden is keen to make progress on cease-fire talks for both Gaza and Lebanon — where Israel is battling Hezbollah militants — before US elections on Nov. 5, when his vice president, Kamala Harris, will face former President Donald Trump.
Yet Israel’s recent military gains against Hamas and Hezbollah have left it determined to press on.
Lebanon Aid
Hezbollah, which like Hamas is backed by Iran and considered a terrorist group by the US, and Israel continue to exchange heavy fire. Israel’s military said Hezbollah fired about 135 missiles and rockets from Lebanon on Wednesday, though they caused little damage. Israeli strikes killed seven people in the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek, according to Lebanon’s government.
The Israel Defense Forces said four of its soldiers were killed in Lebanon on Wednesday, and that it’s killed more than 1,500 Hezbollah fighters so far in the conflict. Hezbollah hasn’t published its losses since Israel sent ground troops into southern Lebanon around Oct. 1.
The French Foreign Ministry said Thursday that an international conference it hosted raised $1 billion for Lebanon, including $800 million in humanitarian aid and $200 million to support Lebanon’s security forces. France’s share was 100 million euros ($108 million).
Blinken, while in the Middle East, reiterated the US’s call for Israel not to retaliate against Iran for a missile attack earlier this month in a way that worsens hostilities. The US, Arab states and others fear that if Israel strikes Iran’s nuclear or oil-export facilities, it could trigger a full-scale regional war and push up energy prices.
--With assistance from Dana Khraiche, Fares Akram, Ania Nussbaum and Courtney McBride.
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