After the United States expressed great optimism about the prospects of the current round of hostage deal negotiations for several weeks, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken left the Middle East on Tuesday without tangible results.
U.S. officials told Politico they believe the deal is now on the verge of collapsing.
In recent months, U.S. officials had given unprecedently optimistic assessments after the hostage release talks had appeared hopeless for most of the duration of the war.
However, the Hamas terror group officially rejected the “bridging proposal” agreed upon by the mediating countries and Israel. Jerusalem had never joined in the optimism.
After Blinken initially dismissed Hamas’ openly stated intentions, saying, “We’ve seen public statements before that don’t fully reflect where Hamas is,” he was forced to conclude visits to Israel, Egypt and Qatar without any tangible progress.
During a press briefing in Qatar before his return home, Blinken reiterated that there was “fierce urgency” to get the deal “done in the days ahead, and we will do everything possible to get it across the finish line.”
To reach an agreement, both Israel and Hamas must “do what's necessary to bring the flexibility to the table,” he emphasized.
“Over the coming days, we are going to do everything possible to get Hamas on board,” Blinken said.
“Time is of the essence because, with every passing day, the well-being and lives of the hostages are in jeopardy,” he added.
He also reiterated that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to the proposal, including withdrawals of IDF troops from the Gaza Strip.
Blinken did not provide further details about what this would mean for Israel’s presence at the Philadelphi and Netzarim Corridors, a condition that Netanyahu continues to insist upon.
If the current proposal fails, there is no immediate alternative, according to two U.S. and two Israeli officials in an interview with Politico, expressing concern that the negotiations were close to collapsing.
Washington is especially frustrated that Hamas publicly rejected the proposal, as it had reportedly signaled it would be open to an agreement before the summit in Doha began, Politico wrote.
“We don’t know if Sinwar wants this deal,” one of the officials said. “But if we don’t get the deal there’s a chance that Iran attacks and this escalates into a full-blown confrontation.”
This highlights the Biden administration's primary concern with the negotiations, as it seems to pin all hopes of resolving various regional issues on the outcome of the deal.
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