The US had previously described the summit as a “showdown”.
The fighting in the Gaza Strip has been going on for ten months now, and rockets have been hitting both sides of the border between Israel and Lebanon for almost as long. During all this time, negotiations about hostage deals and a possible ceasefire have been going on in the background every day – but never has there been so much at stake as on Thursday in Doha.
If no solution is found this time, Iran will have no choice but to carry out its threatened major attack on Israel, thereby possibly triggering the feared major war in the region.
In the two weeks since the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Hanyeh in Tehran by a – presumably Israeli – missile attack, the US has done a lot to prevent the Iranian regime from taking its promised revenge: They have deployed troops and aircraft carriers to the region, but have also promised that there is a chance of successful negotiations as long as the situation does not escalate.
This seemed to bear fruit: Iranian government officials said on Tuesday that they would refrain from retaliation in the event of a ceasefire.
“No more excuses”
Accordingly, the US, together with the other mediating states Egypt and Qatar, increased the pressure on Israel and Hamas. “There are no longer any acceptable excuses from any side for further delays,” said US chief negotiator Amos Hochstein.
The basis for the negotiations will be the plan that US President Joe Biden had already presented three months ago. According to this, all surviving Israeli hostages are to be released in exchange for captured Palestinians, the Israeli army is to withdraw completely from the Gaza Strip and a permanent ceasefire is to be agreed.
Will Netanyahu and the new Hamas leader Sinwar join in?
Despite the tightened conditions, there is great concern that the two main leaders of both conflict parties will rule out an agreement. Under their new leader Yahya Sinwar Hamas appears even less willing to compromise than before and even publicly boycotted the negotiations – even though the Qataris apparently conveyed to the USA that contact had never been broken off.
The previous head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, has taken over complete control of the terrorist organization since his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran two weeks ago.
But Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not seem willing to accept peace under the conditions set. Although he gave the Israeli representatives in Doha – led by Mossad chief David Barnea – for the first time, the sole negotiating mandate, but they set new conditions on Thursday.
Benjamin Netanyahu continues to demand control over the border crossings into the Gaza Strip even in the event of a ceasefire.
Even in the event of a ceasefire, Israeli soldiers should be allowed to continue to control the borders of the Gaza Strip – including with Egypt – and Hamas must immediately release 33 hostages as a sign of goodwill. A corresponding list of names was taken to Doha.
One thing is certain: neither side – Israel, Hamas and Iran – is willing to make concessions that would mean a loss of face. At least one positive signal came from Doha in advance: if the outcome was positive, the negotiations would continue on Friday, it was said.