Washington- Despite days having passed since the leaks, the administration of US President Joe Biden has not announced its position on the fact that it discussed the possibility of negotiating a separate deal with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) with Qatari mediation to release 5 American detainees. Until the preparation of this report, Tel Aviv Tribune Net had not received a response in this regard to its questions from the US State Department and the White House.
NBC reported last Sunday that the United States may negotiate a separate hostage deal with Hamas to release the five citizens with dual American and Israeli citizenship who are still being held by the movement in Gaza: Hersh Goldberg Bolin, Aidan Alexander, Sagi Dekel Chen, Keith Siegel, and Omer Neutra.
According to the source, American officials also hope to recover the remains of three other American citizens believed to have been killed on October 7, and whose bodies were transported to Gaza.
A very real choice
Mystery surrounds the fate of the ceasefire plan announced by President Biden two weeks ago, which includes 3 stages and includes: the release of all hostages, a cessation of fighting, Israel’s complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and the start of the return of the displaced and reconstruction.
Israel expressed its acceptance of the first phase, extending for 6 weeks, while Hamas agreed to the plan, including amendments to the Israeli proposal, including a ceasefire. The amendments also included Israeli withdrawal from the entire sector, including the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphia axis. Washington, Doha, and Cairo are still evaluating the movement’s response.
A senior US official told NBC that the idea of trying to negotiate an agreement between the Biden administration and Hamas remains a “very real option” if the current proposed ceasefire agreement fails to make progress.
In an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net, Ambassador David Mack, former Assistant Secretary of State for Middle East Affairs and currently an expert at the Atlantic Council, said, “It would not surprise me if the Biden administration now begins dealing with Hamas through our diplomatic partners such as Qatar and Egypt to release the American hostages.”
Ambassador Mack considered that this American approach “would show the Israelis that their government is failing their hostages, and that the United States has options other than waiting for Netanyahu to accept the agreement that Minister Gantz and other Israeli leaders were willing to accept.”
Ambiguity about the price
American officials did not say what the United States might offer Hamas in exchange for the release of the American hostages. But officials said, according to the leaks, that Hamas may have an incentive to conclude a unilateral deal with Washington because this may increase the tension in relations between the United States and Israel, and add internal political pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
One of the former officials said that internal discussions also took place in the context of the possibility of the United States concluding a unilateral deal with Hamas that might pressure Netanyahu to agree to the current ceasefire proposal.
While defense affairs expert Michael Beck stated – to Tel Aviv Tribune Net – that “the Biden administration is walking in a minefield. Any agreement with Hamas would raise questions about the reasons for the White House not taking more steps to help Israel secure the freedom of the remaining hostages. Any move in this direction would be exploited against Biden in the presidential elections, given that he made concessions to a group that American laws consider a terrorist organization.”
For his part, Aaron David Miller, the former negotiator for the Middle East peace process in several American administrations, asked in his tweet on the To put pressure on Israel? What if Biden is willing to give Hamas anything! The detainees are dual citizens, and there is no confirmation of this news from American officials.”
The United States had exchanged operations with Russia, Iran, and Cuba to release detained Americans. It is unclear whether there are prisoners held by the United States that Hamas wants to release.
The Israeli lobby is attacking
Director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Robert Satloff, who is known for his closeness to AIPAC, attacked the idea of an American agreement with Hamas.
Satloff posted a tweet on the X website in which he said, “Securing the release of American hostages held by Hamas is a top priority, and we must all ask the American government to do everything possible to achieve this. But making a separate deal with Hamas to recover 5 Americans, while continuing Hamas’ refusal to accept Biden’s proposal is not a wise policy.”
“Even without knowing what Washington will offer Hamas, such a deal would divide allies and give a measure of American recognition to Hamas, undermining our common goals in the war and further eroding what little support for what remains of Palestinian moderates,” according to Satloff, who called on Washington to put pressure on Qatar and Egypt must in turn put pressure on Hamas, and Washington must continue to support and arm the ongoing Israeli operation in Rafah.
During his speech, last Monday, before the World Forum of the American Jewish Committee, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that the Biden administration remains committed to seeing “Hamas exit from power in Gaza,” and he continued that the American President explicitly said that “the path forward is in “Gaza will be achieved when Hamas is no longer in power.”
Sullivan reiterated what Netanyahu said that Israel would not agree to a permanent ceasefire before “destroying Hamas’ military capabilities and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.”