Biden speaks with Qatari emir to discuss hostage release, ceasefire efforts
White House says talks center on ‘urgent effort to secure the release of all remaining hostages,’ as terminally ill mother of captive begs US president for chance to see her again
US President Joe Biden spoke Tuesday with Qatar’s ruling emir, Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, to discuss the efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
According to a statement from Doha, the two leaders discussed “joint mediation efforts to calm the situation and reach a permanent ceasefire,” among other topics.
The White House readout of the call said that the pair talked about “the urgent effort to secure the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas, including American citizens.”
They also discussed the “ongoing efforts to facilitate increased and sustained flows of life-saving access to humanitarian aid into Gaza,” the White House said.
Also Tuesday, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer met with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Washington, where the pair discussed “the transition to a different phase of the war” as well as efforts to bring home the hostages and “planning for the day after,” according to a National Security Council spokesman.
Qatar has played a key role in indirect negotiations between Hamas, Israel and the US, which led to a weeklong temporary truce last month during which more than 100 hostages were released in exchange for a pause in fighting and the release of Palestinian security prisoners. Indirect talks have been ongoing in recent days to reach a renewed truce and allow for the release of the approximately 130 hostages remaining in Gaza, but negotiations appear to have stalled with the sides reportedly far apart.
An Egyptian proposal that would see Hamas give up control of the Strip in return for a permanent ceasefire was reportedly rejected earlier this week by both Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The first stage of the Egyptian plan, which is backed by Qatar, would see a two-week halt to the fighting, extendable to three or four weeks, in exchange for the release of 40 hostages kidnapped from Israel. In return, Israel would release 120 Palestinian security prisoners who fit the same categories as the hostages released. During this time, fighting would stop and humanitarian aid would enter Gaza.
The second phase would see an Egypt-sponsored “Palestinian national talk” aimed at ending the division between Palestinian factions — mainly the Fatah party-dominated Palestinian Authority and Hamas — and leading to the formation of a technocratic government in the West Bank and Gaza that would oversee the reconstruction of the Strip and pave the way for Palestinian parliamentary and presidential elections.
The third stage would include a comprehensive ceasefire, the release of the remaining Israeli hostages, including soldiers, in return for a to-be-determined number of Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli jails affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Israel would withdraw its forces from cities in the Gaza Strip and allow displaced Gazans from the enclave’s north to return to their homes.
Israeli officials have repeated almost daily that they have no intention of pausing fighting in Gaza before Hamas is toppled, but Hebrew-media reports indicated that the Egyptian proposal was slated to be discussed by the war cabinet, with officials indicating it could potentially serve as a basis for negotiations.
More than 80 days after her daughter was taken hostage, the mother of Noa Argamani issued a renewed appeal to Biden to be able to see her before she succumbs to terminal brain cancer.
According to CNN, Liora Argamani wrote a letter to Biden explaining that “I am terminally ill with Stage 4 brain cancer. All that’s running through my mind before I part ways with my family forever is the chance to hug my daughter, my only child, one last time.”
Liora Argamani wrote that “it’s Christmas now, and I would like to request from you, Mr. President, as a present, to see my daughter again before I leave this world.”
Noa Argamani was taken hostage on October 7 with approximately 240 other Israelis and foreigners after approximately 3,000 Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel on October 7, massacring some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
In response, Israel launched a military offensive aimed at toppling Hamas’s rule in Gaza, in which more than 20,000 people in the Strip have died, an unverified figure provided by the Hamas-run health ministry which does not differentiate between civilians and terror operatives. Israel says it has killed more than 8,000 Hamas gunmen in the Strip so far.
More than 160 IDF soldiers have died fighting in the military’s ground operation in Gaza.
It is believed that 129 hostages remain in Gaza — including 22 bodies — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November. Four hostages were released prior to that, and one was rescued by troops.
The bodies of 11 hostages have also been recovered, including three hostages who were mistakenly shot dead by IDF troops. Hamas is also holding the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin since 2014, as well as two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
