Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu She grabbed the arm of the White House Middle East envoy Brett McGurk As they left a heated meeting in Israel on November 14. Conversations about editing 240 hostages The clashes between Hamas fighters stopped and tensions were high. McGurk turned to find the Israeli leader looking him in the eye. “We need this agreement,” Netanyahu said.
A week later, the Israeli Prime Minister got what he wanted: the long-awaited agreement on… 50 hostages releasedWomen and children. It took five grueling weeks to achieve this, a major diplomatic move — one that Biden administration officials hope will lead to increased humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and the release of other hostages at the same time.
Qatar mediation
how do we get there? A senior US official provided details Negotiation In Politico. Qatar, a close US ally that has influence over Hamas, contacted the White House shortly after October 7 with information about the hostages that Hamas men had just taken. The Qatari government proposed forming a small cell between the United States and Israel to resolve the hostage issue. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan He turned to his two senior aides, McGurk And the Josh Geltzer. Together they got on the phones to coordinate the best way to reach an agreement with Hamas.
The risks became clear during an October 13 Zoom call between President Joe Biden and the families of missing American hostages. The conversation continued longer than the timeline allowed, as Biden allowed everyone on the phone to tell stories about their loved ones and express their concerns. “It was one of the most terrifying things I have ever witnessed in this office,” a US government official said.
The hostage issue has become central to Biden’s multiple phone calls and face-to-face meetings with Netanyahu, along with pressing Israel to allow humanitarian aid to reach those in need and ensuring that military operations to eliminate Hamas in Gaza prioritize the safety of citizens. These efforts secured it First win on October 23. Two American womenHamas allowed Natalie and Judith Raanan, mother and daughter, to escape. This raised hopes that the release of the other hostages could eventually be secured.
The Israeli military operation in Gaza began, and at one point Hamas released information about 50 hostages, signaling to Biden that their release was possible. The US President expressed his views to Netanyahu in a phone call on November 14, and the Israeli leader agreed because he faced great pressure from the hostages’ relatives.
Al-Shifa Hospital
Complications remained. Israel cut communications within Gaza during its military operations, making it difficult to transfer any information to and from Hamas He threatened to stop negotiations After the Israeli army entered Al-Shifa Hospital. Talks only began when Israel informed Hamas that it would keep the hospital open.
On November 17, Biden called the Emir of Qatar – McGurk arrived in the emirate to review the final text of the agreement, which included Hamas’ conditions, while CIA Director Bill Burns, who briefed Mossad, participated in the discussions. The next morning, McGurk was in Cairo to meet with Abbas Kamel, the head of Egyptian intelligence. As they spoke, the message arrived: Hamas leaders in Gaza accepted almost everything that had been agreed upon in Doha the night before. The final step was approval by the Israeli Cabinet. Now the road is open.
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