Biden administration eyes own deal with Hamas to release US captives
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The turning point would be that the potential negotiations would not include "Israel" and would be done through Qatari mediators.
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Israelis protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they call for the release of captives on May 18, 2024. (AP)
Negotiating a unilateral deal with Hamas to secure the release of five Americans being held hostage in Gaza is already being discussed by the Biden administration in case ceasefire talks fail, according to two current senior US officials and two former senior US officials.
The turning point would be that the potential negotiations would not include "Israel" and would be done through Qatari mediators.
The Biden administration believes Hamas is holding five American hostages and expressed its desire to recover the remains of three other US citizens. The officials knowledgeable on this matter do not know what Hamas will get in exchange, but they stated that Hamas could have the incentive to agree to a unilateral deal with the US as it would likely add more fuel to the fire between the US and "Israel".
The Americans believed to be held captive in Gaza are Edan Alexander, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Omer Neutra, and Keith Siegel.
One of the former officials claims that internal discussions have already taken place regarding the possibility of a unilateral deal with Hamas, which might pressure Netanyahu to agree to a current version of the ceasefire proposal.
American and Israeli officials consider that any operations similar to the one in which four captives were retrieved and 274 Palestinians were killed will remain an "exception", insisting that the majority of the remaining captives can be retrieved only through diplomatic means.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to "Israel" to discuss attempts to secure a ceasefire deal as a senior administration official told NBC News that Saturday's massacre will likely make Blinken’s efforts more difficult to achieve a deal and release more captives.
Reality hits back
The senior administration official added that Saturday's retrieval has given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even more determination to continue the war on Gaza rather than stop it.
Read more: Gantz, Eisenkot quit Netanyahu's War Cabinet, Ben-Gvir wants in
However, according to one of the current senior US officials, trying to negotiate a deal between the Biden administration and Hamas is a “very real option” if the current proposed ceasefire deal fails to go through.
The US called on the United Nations Security Council last week to adopt a resolution supporting the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal between "Israel" and the Palestinian Resistance laid out by Biden, Reuters reported.
The US circulated a one-page draft text to the 15-member council. For the resolution to pass, it requires at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes from the US, France, Britain, China, or Russia.
Failing to call on the Israeli occupation forces to end its war machine, the draft urges Hamas to accept the deal and "fully and implement its terms without delay and without condition."
Earlier Monday, the White House said Biden told the emir of mediator Qatar that he saw Hamas as "the only obstacle to a complete ceasefire" in Gaza and urged him to press the Palestinian Resistance group to accept it.
But it is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office that stressed that the ongoing war on Gaza would continue until all "goals are achieved," including the destruction of Hamas' military and governing capabilities, and it is Netanyahu's extremist ministers who are threatening to leave the government in the event that he accepts the deal.
