US Vice President-elect JD Vance has said that a deal between Israel and Hamas could soon be reached and that the reason for this progress is “because people are terrified that it will “There are consequences for Hamas.”
“We’re hopeful that a deal will be reached toward the very end of (Joe) Biden’s administration — maybe in the last couple of days,” Vance said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday.
He was responding to a question about what President-elect Donald Trump meant last week when he said “all hell will break loose” in the Middle East if Hamas does not release the last prisoners it is holding.
“It is very clear that President Trump threatened Hamas and made it clear that there would be hell to pay, which is part of the reason we have made progress in freeing some hostages,” he said. Vance said.
Appearing to explain the practicalities of Trump’s threat, Vance said: “Now what does that look like?” I think firstly, it means allowing the Israelis to eliminate the last two Hamas battalions and their leaders. »
He added that “this means very aggressive sanctions and financial sanctions against those who support terrorist organizations in the Middle East. That means doing the job of American leadership, which Donald Trump did very well for four years and will do very well for the next four years.”
Months of negotiations and diplomacy have still failed to achieve a ceasefire and end the fighting that began on October 7, 2023 after Hamas carried out an offensive in Israel, killing at least 1,139 people and taking more than 200 prisoners. In response, Israel has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians and injured more than 109,000 to date.
However, Egyptian, Qatari and American mediators continue to make new efforts to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas.
The head of Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, as well as Biden’s top Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, are both taking part in the latest round of talks in the Qatari capital, Doha.
On Monday, an Israeli official said “the broad outlines of the agreement were clear” and that he was awaiting Hamas’ response, Israeli Channel 13 reported.
“If he responds quickly, the details can be finalized within a few days,” the official said, according to the report.
Doubts about the dismantling of Hamas
Vance’s explanation for Trump’s warning somewhat echoes what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated: that destruction and “total victory” over Hamas was a major goal of the war in his country against Gaza.
However, analysts have long questioned such a goal, saying that destroying the ruling entity in Gaza was unrealistic.
Mouin Rabbani, a non-resident researcher at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, said that while Hamas’ military capacity has certainly weakened, it “remains capable of fighting and retains the will to fight.” “.
“I don’t think anyone expected that Hamas would be able to withstand a year of arguably the most intense bombing and military campaign since World War II,” he said.
“I think its leaders would be quite satisfied about the future of their movement. »
Israeli columnist Gideon Levy previously expressed fears that the war would become an “endless war,” calling Netanyahu’s goal of absolute victory “ridiculous.”
“There will be no defeat here. This will go on and on until Israel and Hamas – mainly Israel – realize that this is going nowhere and must stop at all costs.
Even Israeli military and political leaders have questioned Netanyahu’s goal of completely dismantling Hamas. In June, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said Hamas was an “idea” that could not be “demolished.”
“Hamas is a party and it is implanted in people’s hearts,” he said. “Anyone who thinks we can take down Hamas is wrong.”
A poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy Research and Survey conducted in June 2024 showed that support for Hamas in Gaza and the occupied West Bank stood at 40%, up from 34% three months earlier.
Last month, Yair Golan, a former lawmaker and current chairman of the Israeli Democratic Party, said the war must end “with a political settlement.”
He ridiculed Israeli leaders’ claims of “total victory,” pointing out that rockets had been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory for several consecutive days in December.
