|
2025-05-16 Israel-Palestine-Jordan
|
|
Witkoff told mediators US not planning to force Israel to end Gaza war, officials say
|
[IsraelTimes] Arab sources tell ToI Trump envoy currently working to coax Hamas to release smaller number of hostages than Israel has been demanding, hoping to meet parties halfway
Since hostage talks between Israel and Hamas
 ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
resumed in Doha on Wednesday, US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff has told other mediators that Washington doesn’t plan to force Israel to end the war in Gazoo amid Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s staunch refusal to do so, two Arab officials told The Times of Israel on Thursday.
Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
i and Egyptian mediators had hoped the US would move in this direction, given comments from President Donald Trump
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
and other top aides about their desire to end the war following Hamas’s Monday release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander.
Netanyahu has insisted on only agreeing to a temporary ceasefire of roughly 45 days, which would begin with Hamas releasing about 10 hostages. During that time, he told Witkoff that Israel is prepared to hold talks on a permanent end to the war, without committing to such a result up front, the first Arab official said.
Hamas has flatly rejected this framework, arguing that it had already agreed to release hostages during a January truce deal that was supposed to see Israel hold talks regarding a permanent end to the war,
…yes, but then Hamas again played stupid games, obviating the agreement… however, Netanyahu then refused to enter such negotiations and ended up resuming the IDF’s offensive in Gaza on March 18.
Accordingly, Hamas has insisted on an up-front Israeli commitment to end the war before it releases additional hostages. It also issued a statement on Thursday, warning of harm to the talks if Israel doesn’t end its nearly two-and-a-half-month-long blockade on aid entering Gaza. Israel has accused Hamas of stealing much of the aid that was previously brought in.
Due to both sides’ intransigence, Witkoff has offered a proposal that tries to meet the sides halfway — one that would see the release of a smaller number of hostages in exchange for a weekslong truce, the two Arab officials said. The Trump envoy has also tried to assure Hamas through mediators that the US will make sure that this time Israel does enter talks regarding the terms of a permanent ceasefire.
The Arab officials said the sides remain far apart, but that the American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators were still looking to push them toward a compromise over the coming days.
Israel has pledged to launch a major military operation to reoccupy and hold onto the entire Strip if Hamas doesn’t accept its proposal for a temporary ceasefire by the time Trump wraps up his Mideast trip on Friday.
But Arab mediators hope that the US will convince Israel to at least hold off on the operation for several more days, as they wait to determine the results of a Tuesday IDF strike targeting Hamas’s Gaza leader, Muhammad Sinwar. Scores of civilians were also reportedly killed, according to Hamas-linked health officials in Gaza.
Israeli officials have characterized Sinwar as a major obstacle in previous negotiations and hope that his elimination will lead Hamas to compromise. But Israeli optimism that Sinwar was indeed killed has begun to wane, according to the second Arab official who was briefed on the matter.
Arab leaders were also slated to gather for a summit in Baghdad on Saturday that will focus on Gaza, and were hoping that the Israeli offensive wouldn’t be launched during that confab, the second Arab official added.
While they continue to follow Witkoff’s lead in the negotiations, Qatar and Egypt believe the strategy should be to push the sides toward a permanent end to the war, the first Arab official said.
Hamas has already agreed to forgo governing control over the Strip, and at least five Arab countries are still prepared to take part in the post-war management of Gaza in what they argue would lead to the gradual disarmament of Hamas, the Arab official said, acknowledging that it would require an invitation from the Paleostinian Authority, which Netanyahu has refused to accommodate.
If the creation of a political horizon for the Paleostinians is absent, demands for permanent Hamas disarmament would not be met, the Arab official asserted.
Witkoff largely agrees with the Arab approach and told hostages’ families last week that the Netanyahu government’s plan to massively expand the war will not be effective, according to a source present for the discussion.
Given that the Arab/Witkoff approach will definitely not work for Israel, Israel's war will perforce continue until the Arab parties choose to be more flexible.
When he was pressed during another meeting with families on Tuesday on why the US was not then willing to force Netanyahu to end the war, Witkoff responded, "We’re not the Israeli government...The Israeli government is a sovereign government. They can’t tell us what to do, and we can’t tell them what to do," according to a recording of the meeting obtained by Haaretz.
Witkoff’s office did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
Hamas has proposed releasing all of the hostages at once in exchange for an end to the war, but Netanyahu has rejected this trade, arguing that it would leave Hamas in power.
Successive polls have indicated that the premier is out of step with the majority of Israelis, who back such a framework. But Netanyahu is also facing pressure from his far-right coalition partners, who have threatened to collapse the government if he were to end the war in exchange for the remaining 58 hostages, between 20 and 23 of whom are believed to still be alive.
Or possibly Bibi is a wily politician with his own ideas of what must be, threading between the raucus demands of parties both internal and external in a determined effort to guarantee that Israel both survives and thrives in her very dangerous neighbourhood.
Rubio ‘troubled’ by Gaza humanitarian crisis, urges solutions to avoid Hamas aid theft
[IsraelTimes] Secretary says he spoke to Netanyahu but avoids specifying whether he pushed PM to lift blockade; recognizes criticism of new initiative, asserts he’s open to alternatives
|
Posted by trailing wife 2025-05-16 2025-05-16 01:12||
||
Front Page|| [41 views ]
Top
File under: Hamas
|
|
17:49 magpie
15:50 Skidmark
15:50 swksvolFF
15:48 Skidmark
15:46 Skidmark
15:41 Skidmark
15:35 Skidmark
15:25 Skidmark
15:21 illeagle
14:41 Besoeker
14:16 trailing wife
14:12 swksvolFF
14:03 trailing wife
13:55 Skidmark
13:45 Silentbrick
13:40 DarthVader
13:35 swksvolFF
13:20 Skidmark
13:16 Skidmark
13:11 Skidmark
13:02 Skidmark
13:01 Skidmark
12:59 Skidmark
12:52 mossomo
|
