Gaza Talks at Crossroads: US Pulls Negotiators as Mediators Report Progress
The US and Israel pulled their negotiating teams from Qatar for consultation, hours after Hamas submitted its response to the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal.
On the other hand, mediators Egypt and Qatar reported some progress in the talks and said they would resume, as international concern mounts over Gaza’s worsening humanitarian situation and spreading hunger.
Blaming Hamas
The US President, Donald Trump, and the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Friday accused Hamas of not wanting a deal in Gaza, signaling that they would give up on the ceasefire negotiations, reported Reuters.
“Hamas really didn’t want to make a deal. I think they want to die. And it’s very bad. And it got to be to a point where you’re going to have to finish the job,” Trump told reporters.
On Thursday, Trump’s Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, said that Hamas was not acting in good faith and its response to the truce proposal showed a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.
Similarly, Netanyahu said that “Hamas is the obstacle to a hostage release deal,” according to a statement by his office.
Alternative Options
Both the US and Israel suggested they would look for alternatives to release the remaining hostages, without elaborating. Witkoff said that the US would “consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli Prime Minister said that Tel Aviv and Washington were “considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas’s terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region.”
With regards to this, the US State Department spokeswoman, Tammy Bruce, declined to reveal what options Trump and Witkoff were referring to.
“We’ve tried. The world has watched this. What the options are — clearly there are many tools in President Trump’s tool chest, many options that Special Envoy Witkoff has,” she told CNN on Friday.
“So, they are very smart, adept individuals who know the players. And I expect that we’ll have some success,” Bruce added.
Constructive Gaza Talks
In contrast, Hamas deemed the latest round of negotiations constructive, criticizing Witkoff’s remarks as an attempt to pressure the Palestinian movement for the benefit of Israel in the next round of talks.
“What we have presented – with full awareness and understanding of the complexity of the situation – we believe could lead to a deal if the enemy had the will to reach one,” Hamas official Bassem Naim said in a statement on Facebook.
He said that said the talks addressed several gaps, such as the ceasefire agenda, guarantees to continue negotiating to reach a permanent agreement and how humanitarian aid would be delivered.
Mediators Optimism
Mediators Egypt and Qatar echoed Naim’s comments. In a joint statement, the two countries said that the latest round of talks had seen some progress and that they would resume, without setting a date. “It is normal to suspend talks to hold consultations before the resumption of the dialogue once more,” they said.
Moreover, Egypt and Qatar reiterated their commitment to continuing their efforts to reach a comprehensive ceasefire agreement in Gaza in collaboration with the US.
Negotiations have been taking place for months to reach a ceasefire deal that would release Israeli hostages, increase aid flow into Gaza and halt the fighting for 60 days.
However, some sticking points have obstructed progress, including the redeployment of Israeli troops in Gaza and what would happen after the 60-day truce if no permanent agreement was reached.
Looming Famine
Gaza is facing a worsening humanitarian catastrophe, as international aid organizations warn of mass hunger in the Strip amid the restricted flow of aid. In response to mounting pressures, the Israeli military said on Friday it would allow countries to airdrop aid supplies into Gaza.
“The Gaza Strip does not need flying aerobatics, it needs an open humanitarian corridor and a steady daily flow of aid trucks to save what remains of the lives of besieged, starving civilians,” the director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, Ismail Al-Thawabta, told Reuters.
As deaths related to malnutrition increased this month, around 28 countries and more than 115 aid agencies called for an immediate end to the Gaza war, criticizing Israel’s restriction on aid flow and the delivery mechanism to deployed under the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
