US, UK and German envoys push for Gaza deal: ‘All remaining issues have solutions’
Netanyahu gives go-ahead for Israeli negotiators to attend Doha talks on Thursday, but Hamas still refusing to take part
In a rare joint public statement, the US, British and German ambassadors to Israel declared on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas must reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza soon, as there might not be other opportunities to win the freedom of hostages held in the Palestinian enclave since October 7.
Speaking at the headquarters of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Tel Aviv, US Ambassador Jack Lew, German Ambassador Steffen Seibert and British Ambassador Simon Walters insisted that time was running out for the hostages and that a deal could head off the expansion of the current conflict into a regional war.
The ambassadors’ comments came ahead of an anticipated resumption of talks on Thursday, only days after US President Joe Biden spoke to the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and the UK to discuss de-escalating tensions in the Middle East and reaching a ceasefire in Gaza.
The five leaders then issued a joint statement that endorsed a call from the United States, Qatar and Egypt to renew talks for a hostage-truce deal as soon as possible.
The statement said that after working “tirelessly” for months, the mediators are ready to present Israel and Hamas with a final proposal, with only the details for implementing the agreement yet to be worked out.
In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that an Israeli delegation will attend negotiations on August 15, which are slated to be held in Doha.
US Amb. Jack Lew on a ceasefire/hostage deal: "Now is the time to come together. All of the remaining issues have solutions. If the parties come to the table with a mind for finding solutions, we can get this done. It may not be done in one meeting. But it has to get done." pic.twitter.com/wnrecQwaBR
— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) August 14, 2024
Although Hamas has said it would not take part, a State Department spokesman said on Tuesday that Qatar was working to convince the terror group to attend.
Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Lew said that the three ambassadors had made common cause in freeing their own countries’ hostages as well as those who are citizens of other nations, adding that it remains a high priority of the Biden administration to reach a ceasefire-hostage release deal.
“We also need to reach a diplomatic solution in the north. The meeting tomorrow is very important, it needs to bring a solution. We don’t know how many more opportunities we will have to reunite hostages with their families and have a doorway to stability in the area,” he said, stressing that there was no time to lose and that the United States calls on “all parties to reach a deal now.”
Biden has said that a widely anticipated Iranian attack on Israel to avenge the assassinations of senior terror figures may be staved off if Israel and Hamas manage to reach a ceasefire deal, echoing Iranian officials who told Reuters a promised retaliatory strike could be put off if talks progress.
“The meeting tomorrow is very important,” Lew stated. “Time is always important, but time is particularly of the essence right now. We don’t know how many more chances we have to bring this negotiation back together and to have a successful conclusion.”
For his part, Germany’s Seibert asserted that this week is “potentially decisive” for the fate of the hostages, adding that the “eyes of millions” are pinned on tomorrow’s talks.
“If successful, they could open up the possibility of finding a political solution to the fighting in the north and allow tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to return home,” he stated, adding that “the Hamas terrorists could have and should have returned the hostages a long time ago.”
Switching to Hebrew, Seibert spoke about the unimaginable suffering of the families of the hostages, calling their experience “unbearable” and calling on all parties, including Iran, to refrain from actions that would jeopardize the talks.
He included National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s visit to the Temple Mount yesterday, which he called a “provocation.”
“There cannot be further delay” in reaching a deal, Britain’s Walters added.
“Now is the time for a deal that sees the immediate return of the hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza. The hostages need to return home now, and the people of Gaza need urgent and unfettered delivery and distribution of aid,” he said, adding that “escalation is in no one’s interest, and that is why we have urged Iran and its proxies to refrain from attacking Israel.
“If Iran chooses to jeopardize these negotiations, it will bear responsibility for those actions,” he warned.
Asked about Netanyahu’s apparent addition of new Israeli conditions, including continued control over the Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the Egypt-Gaza border, Lew deflected.
“Without getting into the details of the negotiation that’s best left for the privacy of the negotiating room, we have all agreed to a framework. Now the question is moving from the framework to the specifics,” he said.
“Everyone knew that was going to be challenging because frameworks are general and specifics get down to the detail. Now is the time to come together. All of the remaining issues have solutions. If the parties come to the table with a mind for finding solutions, we can get this done. It may not be done in one meeting. But it has to get done.”
Senior officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF chief Herzi Halevi, were reported earlier this month to have told Netanyahu that his insistence on new terms will sabotage the deal.
Channel 12 news quoted both Halevi and Gallant as accusing Netanyahu of being well aware that the new conditions he is demanding, which have reportedly been included in an updated Israeli proposal, would doom the deal.
The new proposal is said to demand an inspection mechanism be put in place to ensure combatants are not able to move to the Strip’s north; see Israel remaining on the Gaza-Egypt border, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, during the first phase of the deal; and insist on Israel receiving a list of all living hostages Hamas will release as part of the deal.
None of those demands appeared in an Israeli proposal submitted on May 27, which was then publicly revealed by Biden and is vehemently opposed by the premier’s far-right allies.
Netanyahu himself last month added several “non-negotiable” demands to the hostage deal proposal, including Israeli control over the so-called Philadelphi Corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt and the Netzarim Corridor, which currently splits the Strip in two.
The Netzarim and Philadelphi corridors are not specified as locations where Israeli troops will be allowed to remain, according to the text of the Israeli proposal from May, which was published in full by The Times of Israel.
In fact, the document calls for the “withdrawal of Israeli forces eastwards away from densely populated areas along the borders in all areas of the Gaza Strip including Gaza Valley (Netzarim axis and Kuwait roundabout).”
According to national broadcaster Kan, members of the negotiating team warned Netanyahu that his position regarding the Netzarim corridor would “collapse the deal” and that “we approved a proposal that treats the corridor differently.”
In a statement on Tuesday, Netanyahu’s office insisted that “the July 27 draft doesn’t include new conditions and doesn’t contradict the May 27 outline.”
“Hamas is the one that demanded 29 changes, which the prime minister opposed,” the PMO stated.
Despite this, earlier this week Channel 12 reported that Israeli security sources believe it is possible for negotiators to finalize an agreement on Thursday and that the deal could be put into action within days after that.
Ultimately, the report says, it will depend on whether Netanyahu and Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar are prepared to show the “flexibility” needed to finalize an agreement.
Far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition have threatened to topple the government if it agrees to a deal that halts the war.
Following Wednesday’s ambassador press conference, the PMO released a statement saying that the prime minister had “approved the departure of the Israeli delegation to Doha tomorrow, as well as the mandate for conducting the negotiations.”
Jacob Magid and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
