At the MEAD conference in Washington, Israel’s envoy for hostages and missing citizens, Gal Hirsch, asserted that Hamas is not genuinely engaging in negotiations. Hirsch suggested that Israel might be willing to permit Hamas leaders to leave Gaza under specific conditions.
“Hamas is not sincerely negotiating,” Hirsch said. “What we see is a pretence of talks. We initially thought progress was being made, but now it seems that there isn't any. Hamas appears to be stalling. Occasionally, Sinwar issues instructions, and numerous Hamas spokespeople voice their demands, creating confusion and distress for the families involved. They are simply trying to wait us out.”
Hirsch added that since December, Hamas has been largely absent from the negotiation scene, briefly participating in talks in Doha in March before vanishing again. He linked Hamas’s reluctance to the international pressure on Israel, noting that when Hamas perceives that Israel is under significant pressure from allies, the UN, or other international bodies, they have less incentive to rush negotiations as the hostages remain their leverage.
According to Hirsch, Hamas has falsely portrayed Israel as the obstacle to an agreement. “This is untrue. We have not obstructed or cancelled any proposed deal. Hamas is learning more about our society and is attempting to exploit the hostage situation to create divisions within Israel.”
Hirsch expressed confidence that the conflict could end quickly and that Gaza could be rebuilt if the hostages were returned and demilitarization was achieved. “We are prepared to discuss safe passage for Hamas leaders to leave Gaza,” he said.
Israeli officials indicated that the U.S. might present a new cease-fire proposal on Tuesday. However, the proposal could be postponed or revised if the U.S. believes the chances of acceptance are low.
Sources familiar with the negotiations report significant gaps between Israel and Hamas. Despite some recent progress, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s public statements about the crucial need for the IDF to remain in the Philadelphi Corridor suggest that he may not be committed to the second phase of the deal, which involves ending the war. Consequently, Hamas may be reluctant to begin the first phase, which entails the release of 30 hostages over 42 days.
The White House has indicated that the parties agree on about 90% of the proposal's points, but Israel believes that resolving the remaining 10% is not feasible at the moment. Additionally, Israel is urging the U.S. to exert more pressure on Egypt to address smuggling issues from the Philadelphi Corridor.
The Biden administration is caught in a difficult position: while it believes Netanyahu is impeding negotiations, it is hesitant to publicly criticize him to avoid negatively impacting the Democratic party’s 2024 presidential campaign.