Reports: Chance of hostage deal still low after Sinwar’s death despite public US optimism
Israeli official reportedly says Blinken’s visit is ‘desperate attempt to make some sort of diplomatic move’
Despite the Biden administration’s public optimism, the chances for a hostage and ceasefire deal remain low even after Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week, according to reports Sunday.
An unnamed senior Israeli official told Haaretz that there are currently no ongoing talks for a deal, even though US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have said in recent days that Sinwar’s death created an opportunity to end the war.
“No one can say yet how Sinwar’s death will affect the talks, or if there are even such efforts to speak of,” the official reportedly said.
The official additionally said that a planned trip by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the Middle East this week was a “desperate attempt to make some sort of diplomatic move” ahead of Israel’s response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack earlier this month.
The Ynet news site reported that while mediators between Israel and Hamas see Sinwar’s death as a good opportunity to get a deal, his killing could also be an obstacle for the near future amid uncertainty over who will take over as leader of the terror group, and have the final say in negotiations.
Sinwar was the architect of the October 7, 2023 invasion and slaughter in southern Israel, when some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists burst through the Gaza border and massacred some 1,200 people and abducted 251 to Gaza, sparking the war in the Palestinian enclave.
According to Ynet, Mossad chief David Barnea is trying to advance a deal that would see the hostages released with a pause in fighting in both Gaza and Lebanon.
But unnamed US officials told the outlet that negotiations were unlikely to be productive or even begin until Israel carried out its strike on Iran, as Hamas would not be likely to agree to anything until the consequences of the strike became clear.
Iran fired some 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1 after the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah at the end of September as well as Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh‘s death in Tehran in July, which Israel has not taken responsibility for.
It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
Ongoing attempts since then to broker a deal for the release of the remaining hostages still held captive by Hamas have repeatedly failed as Israel and the terror group accuse each other of sabotaging negotiations.
