U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Hamas on April 29 to quickly accept what he called an “extraordinarily generous” offer from Israeli negotiators for a limited cease-fire in exchange for the release of some hostages being held in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas and Israeli government negotiators, working through intermediaries, have been trading back and forth proposals and counterproposals that could at least temporarily pause the ongoing Israeli military operations throughout the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
On April 27, a representative for the terrorist group, Khalil Al-Hayya, acknowledged their side had received the latest offer of terms from Israeli negotiators and was evaluating the proposal. The Hamas representative didn’t provide details about Israeli negotiators’ latest terms.
Speaking at a World Economic Forum (WEF) event in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh on April 29, Mr. Blinken insisted the terms were fair and urged the Hamas side to not prolong their deliberations regarding the latest Israeli offer.
“Hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel, and in this moment, the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a cease-fire is Hamas,” Mr. Blinken said. “They have to decide, and they have to decide quickly.”
Israeli forces have besieged the Gaza Strip and carried out military operations across the territory since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists infiltrated southern Israel, killed more than 1,200 Israelis, and took about 250 hostages back to Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has laid out a wartime goal to eliminate Hamas and win the release of the hostages.
The ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas appear to have previously broken down over the number of hostages Hamas will release and the duration of the cease-fire this hostage release will provide. The Israeli side has argued for a temporary pause in the fighting, and Hamas has been reluctant to relinquish the hostages without a permanent cease-fire and withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory.
British Foreign Minister David Cameron, who was also in attendance at the WEF event in Riyadh, echoed Mr. Blinken’s calls for Hamas to accept the latest Israeli terms. Like his American counterpart, Mr. Cameron said the latest terms are indeed “generous,” saying the deal allows for a 40-day cease-fire and the release of “potentially thousands” of Palestinians.
Biden Admin Not Backing Rafah Operation
For weeks, Israeli forces have been making preparations for potential military operations in the southern Gazan city of Rafah. The Israeli side views the southern city as one of the remaining strongholds for Hamas fighters, but the Biden administration raised concerns about the risks Israeli military operations could pose to the city’s civilian population.More than a million displaced Gaza residents are crammed into Rafah, having sought refuge there from Israeli military operations farther north.
Speaking with Israel’s Channel 12 on April 27, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the priority is still to win the release of hostages. Mr. Katz added that the Israeli side would suspend its Rafah operations if a hostage deal could be reached.
Asked on April 29 whether the Biden administration might endorse Israeli military operations in Rafah if Hamas rejects the latest Israeli hostage proposal, Mr. Blinken said the administration is still urging the Israeli side to avoid going into the city.
Long-Term Peace
Both Mr. Blinken and Mr. Cameron expressed hopes for long-term peace in the decades-old Israel–Palestinian conflict through the eventual recognition of a Palestinian state.At the WEF event, Mr. Cameron said Hamas would ultimately need to be driven out of Gaza and that “terrorist infrastructure” in the territory would need to be dismantled before a Palestinian state could be fully achieved.
“What this comes down to is unless you can see two things happening at the same time, we’re never going to make progress, and those two things are you got to see a political future for the Palestinian people. But you’ve also crucially got to see security for Israel. And those two things have to go together,” the British foreign minister said.
“In order to move forward with normalization, two things will be required: Calm in Gaza and a credible pathway to a Palestinian State,” Mr. Blinken said.
In return for normalization, Arab states are pushing for Israel to accept a pathway to Palestinian statehood over land that Israel captured during the 1967 “Six-Day War”—something the Netanyahu government has repeatedly rejected.
Speaking at the WEF conference, Mr. Blinken said Iran and Hamas “have opposed a two-state solution” and that achieving such an outcome would be “almost by definition” “a profound rebuke to everything that they’ve stood for and destroyed for ... over many years.”
Last week, Mr. Al-Hayya told The Associated Press that Hamas is willing to agree to a truce of five years or more with Israel and that the group would lay down its weapons and convert into a political party if an independent Palestinian state is established along pre-1967 borders.
