The US and regional mediators are stepping up efforts to finalize an agreement to pause Israeli military operations in Gaza and release hostages held by the Hamas militant group.
Hamas today submitted a "generally positive" response to the latest proposal, Qatar's prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said at a joint press briefing in Doha with US secretary of state Tony Blinken.President Joe Biden, speaking to reporters in Washington, called the response from Hamas "a little over the top," but Blinken said that the US would push forward with the mediation. The mediators have not released any details of proposals under negotiation.
Blinken said he will travel to Israel tomorrow to discuss "an expanded agreement on hostages and all the benefits that would bring with it." Blinken's visit to the region — his fifth to the region since the outbreak of the Hamas-Israel conflict in October — included earlier stops in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
US, Egyptian and Qatari negotiators have been hashing out details of a plan to pause fighting in Gaza, but the US has so far been unsuccessful in persuading Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale down military operations. Regional intermediaries, likewise, are yet to persuade Hamas to commit to releasing some or all of the Israeli hostages seized by the militants on 7 October.
A previous attempt to pause fighting in Gaza and exchange hostages faltered in early December, less than a week after it went into effect. Crisis in the region has escalated since then, as Israel has carried out strikes at alleged Iranian-linked groups in Syria, Yemen's Houthi militants have targeted commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and the US military has exchanged fire with suspected Iran-linked militants in Syria and Iraq.
A key element of a possible agreement to pause fighting in Gaza involves what US officials call "the day after" — a roadmap for establishing an internationally recognized governing authority in Gaza under the Palestinian leadership and security and economic guarantees for Israel and the Palestinian population in Gaza and the West Bank. If the plan succeeds, Mideast Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia would recognize Israel and implement regional economic integration projects touted last year.
But Saudi Arabia and other Mideast Gulf countries also insist that fighting in Gaza must end before they discuss "the day after" plans.
Saudi Arabia remains interested in normalizing relations with Israel, Blinken said today, following his meeting on Monday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. But Riyadh set two preconditions for establishing relations with Israel, "an end to the conflict in Gaza and a clear, credible, time-bound path to the establishment of a Palestinian state," Blinken said.
"The only way forward for us to have a peaceful region is a two-state solution," Qatar's al-Thani said last week during a visit to Washington to discuss the Gaza conflict. "And the two-state solution will, of course, need partners on the other side," he said, referencing the Israeli government.
The Biden administration also backs the two-state solution — meaning an establishment of a sovereign Palestinian Authority alongside Israel — but Netanyahu's government has rejected calls from Biden to commit to such a plan.
The White House last week took an unprecedented step of announcing sanctions against four Israeli settlers in the West Bank, after criticizing the Israeli government for not taking sufficient steps to curb anti-Palestinian violence. The State Department is reviewing a possible recognition of the Palestinian state by the US. The Palestinian Authority is recognized as a sovereign government by dozens of countries in Europe, Asia and South America, but the US until now has refused to take that step.
