Qatari and Egyptian leaders press Hamas in effort to break Gaza deal stalemate
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Palestinians inspect the damage from an Israeli attack in the Jabalia Refugee Camp in Jabalia, Gaza on Sept. 11, 2024. Photo: Mahmoud ssa/Anadolu via Getty Images
Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and the director of Egyptian intelligence Abbas Kamel met with Hamas negotiators on Wednesday to try to break the deadlock in the hostage-release and ceasefire in Gaza deal talks, three sources with knowledge of the meeting said.
Why it matters: The meeting in Doha was aimed at trying to get Hamas to lessen its new demands about the release of Palestinian prisoners who are serving life sentences in Israeli prisons, the sources said.
- The White House has been reassessing its strategy for a Gaza deal with President Biden's top aides deliberating whether there is a point in presenting a new proposal as Hamas and Israel both take tougher positions in negotiations.
- A senior Israeli official said the talks are at a stalemate and stressed he doesn't think the meeting in Doha would change that.
Driving the news: The U.S., Egypt and Qatar are still working on a new and updated bridging proposal to present to Israel and Hamas.
- Over the last two weeks, the White House has become very skeptical about the possibility of getting a deal in the immediate term due to Hamas' new demands, U.S. officials said.
- Hamas official Osama Hamdan told al-Jazeera on Tuesday that Hamas hasn't added new demands and that the U.S. should focus on pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
- Netanyahu has also introduced new demands, including the deployment of Israel Defense Forces along the Egypt-Gaza border.
- But U.S. officials claim they would be able to convince Netanyahu to significantly soften his new demands if Hamas drops theirs.
- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and CIA director Bill Burns said in recent days that the U.S. could present a new proposal in the coming days, but other U.S. officials say such a move isn't imminent.
The latest: Hamas confirmed the meeting in a statement on Wednesday and said its negotiations team emphasized to the Qatari and Egyptian leaders that Hamas "see[s] positively reaching a ceasefire agreement that will include the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the entire Gaza Strip."
- The statement said Hamas has no new demands and it opposes any new demands from any party.
- "We gave our response to the mediators and we are interested in further mediation to reach an agreement," the statement said.
- A source with knowledge of the issue said the Qatari and Egyptian mediators felt after the meeting with Hamas that it might be possible to present a new U.S.-Qatari-Egyptian bridging proposal to the parties next week.
Behind the scenes: Biden's advisers spoke several times this week with senior officials in Qatar and Egypt and told them they see Hamas' demand about the number of prisoners the group wants to be released as the main impediment in negotiations at the moment, U.S. officials said.
- Israeli and U.S. officials say Hamas is demanding the release of 100 more life sentence prisoners on top of the 150 that the parties already agreed on.
- The officials added that the U.S. asked that Egypt and Qatar increase the pressure on Hamas to withdraw from its new demands.
What they're saying: White House spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday that the U.S., Egypt and Qatar are still trying to arrive at a proposal that both Israel and Hamas can agree on.
- "What is not clear to us is whether we will be able to get there and whether Hamas will be able to come to the table in sincerity and sign on to something," Kirby said.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with Hamas' statement after the meeting in Doha on Wednesday.
