White House national Security Spokesperson, John Kirby has said that the US is hopeful that a captives-for-ceasefire deal can still be agreed between Israel and Hamas.
“We are cautiously optimistic that things are moving in a good direction,” Kirby said in a television interview when asked if a ceasefire deal was close.
“There are still gaps remaining between the two sides. We believe those gaps can be narrowed, and that’s what Brett McGurk and CIA Director Bill Burns are trying to do right now,” he said.
According to Kirby, US Middle East envoy McGurk and Burns are currently in Egypt meeting with their Egyptian, Israeli and Jordanian counterparts, with “follow-on discussions” scheduled in the next few days.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has warned that ongoing deadly Israeli military attacks in Gaza, which have ramped up in intensity in recent days, could push talks back to square one.
Meanwhile, ceasefire negotiations are set to continue on Thursday, July 11, 2024, in Doha after the Israeli delegation wrapped up their first day of talks in the Qatari capital on Wednesday, July 10, 2024.
Israeli officials, speaking anonymously to Israeli media, have said there are still a wide variety of issues left to discuss, but there are smaller issues where there was some sort of agreement on.
They are also saying that they are putting every single effort in because there is a genuine opportunity for a breakthrough here.
There are three main issues in today’s second day of talks in Qatar.
The first is the names of the Palestinian prisoners and the Israeli captives who will be released in the first phase of this three-phase plan put forward by US President Joe Biden in May, that is backed by the UN.
The second involves security and the Israeli military presence in the south of Gaza along the border with Egypt.
The third and arguably the most difficult issue being discussed today is a transition from the first phase to a potentially permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
This is made more difficult on the back of comments made by the Israeli prime minister a few days ago. Although he said that he is committed to the deal, he released a list of four non-negotiable items and, at the top of that list, he said there needs to be a guarantee for Israel that the war could continue until all of Israel’s goals are achieved even if a pause in the fighting is secured.
Netanyahu reiterated that with the Biden administration’s Middle East tsar, Brett McGurk, in a meeting with him on Wednesday in Israel.
Analyst Shows Pessimism About The Ceasefire Negotiations
Tamer Qarmout, an assistant professor of public policy at Doha Institute of Graduate Studies, opined that he is “quite pessimistic” about the ceasefire negotiations being held in Doha given that “previous rounds of negotiations have failed miserably.”
“We have been hearing that Netanyahu and his defence minister have expressed disagreements over the Gaza truce deal. So, let’s wait and see. There are so many unknown factors,” he told a news agency.
He added that in his opinion this is the last push by the Biden administration to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.
“After this push, if things do not work then Americans would be busy with their elections and the Gaza war will be a secondary or third priority for them,” he said.
He also pointed out that Netanyahu has sabotaged many of the past negotiations.
He suggested, “If this round has to succeed, then I think it requires real and sincere American pressure and some deadlines by Washington.”
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