US envoy indicates Biden’s Gaza strategy has no alternative to hostage deal

US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew indicates that the Biden administration does not see any alternative to a hostage deal as it seeks to wind down the war and stabilize the region.

“I’m not going to talk about the alternative if there is no hostage deal because, honestly, I don’t think we can accept an alternative where there is no deal,” Lew tells the Yedioth Ahronoth daily in one of his first interviews since entering his role as ambassador days after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.

“We have to keep pressing. And I understand that time is not on the hostages’ side,” he says, using the Hebrew word for hostages during the English interview, which was published in Hebrew.

He tells Yedioth that there has been progress toward a deal in recent days, but declines to speculate regarding chances for success, “especially when the party that ultimately has to make the decision is Hamas and Sinwar.”

“The hostage deal is critical, not only as a humanitarian issue, but also as a regional strategic matter,” Lew says.

The US views it as the first step in its broader regional agenda, which seeks a winding down of the war, followed by assistance from Arab partners in rehabilitating Gaza in partnership with a reformed Palestinian Authority that eventually returns to governing both the West Bank and Gaza. The US wants this restoration to be coupled with the establishment of an Israel-approved pathway for a future Palestinian state in parallel to decisions from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel in order to bolster the regional axis against Iran.

“If you look at the geopolitical components, whether it’s Hezbollah and Lebanon or Saudi Arabia. All of the pieces come together more easily if there is a deal to return the hostages along with a ceasefire,” he says.

Lew rejects the premise that intensifying public US criticism of Israel emboldens Hamas to harden its position in the hostage talks, insisting that the administration is constantly working toward a deal. “No one cares more about Hamas believing that there must be a release of the hostages than the US,” he asserts. “We wouldn’t do anything to harm that [perception].”

He also rejects the Israeli claim that the UN Security Council resolution that the US allowed to pass last month amounted to a shift in stance from Washington, which has long maintained that a ceasefire can only be reached through a hostage deal.

The resolution called for an immediate ceasefire and hostage release in the same sentence, but did not explicitly condition the former on the latter.

Lew insists that the US position remains that a ceasefire is conditioned on a hostage release. “Any description of our position as if it has changed is simply incorrect.”