Hamas Agrees To Release Hostages But Wants Further Negotiations
A No masquerading as a Yes to Trump's peace deal.
NYT (“Israel and Hamas Say They’ll Work With Trump’s Gaza Plan, but Gaps Remain“):
Israel and Hamas signaled a readiness to move forward with President Trump’s cease-fire plan in a diplomatic breakthrough, but significant gaps will need to be negotiated to bring an end to the war in Gaza.
The Israeli government said on Saturday morning that it was preparing for the “immediate implementation” of the first steps of Mr. Trump’s plan. Hours earlier, Hamas issued its own qualified acceptance of the proposal, saying it would release all remaining hostages.
Mr. Trump exuded confidence that a deal was imminent, saying it was a “big day” while also exhorting Israel to stop bombing Gaza. He conceded that negotiators still needed “to get the final word down in concrete.”
Neither Israel nor Hamas addressed in detail what had long been seen as the major sticking points to reaching an agreement. Hamas did not elaborate on whether it would accept Mr. Trump’s stipulation, backed by Israel, that the group disarm.
It was also unclear whether Israel was willing to accept any major changes to Mr. Trump’s plan, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said he supported during a visit to the White House this week.
WaPo (“High stakes for Gaza peace talks as Hamas accepts Trump plan with conditions“):
Israel continued to strike targets in Gaza early Saturday, medical workers and local journalists said, despite calls from President Donald Trump for it to “immediately” halt its bombing campaign after Hamas conditionally accepted his 20-point peace plan and agreed to release all Israeli hostages subject to detailed negotiations.
[…]
The continued violence underscored the fragility of a peace process that has now been backed, in its broad strokes, by both Israel and Hamas but is entering a tricky phase. Intense negotiations are expected to begin over the fine points of Trump’s plan, which was heavily shaped by Netanyahu before it was unveiled, and which Hamas demands must be amended to also reflect its input.
Under the terms set by Netanyahu, the Israeli military would only withdraw in phases and not before the group laid down its weapons. In response, Hamas signaled willingness to release the hostages but also a demand for firmer commitments from Israel on its military withdrawal and — perhaps most difficult for Israel to accept — a discussion about its role in a future unified Palestinian state.
In a short statement before dawn, Netanyahu signaled his willingness to work with Trump but his reluctance to bend to Hamas, saying he will seek to bring the war to an end “in accordance with the principles set forth by Israel, which are consistent with President Trump’s vision.”
The Israeli military said it had received orders to “advance readiness” for the release of hostages and the protection of its troops were now a top priority. The army will pause its Gaza City ground invasion and switch to only defensive operations, a person familiar with the matter said.
After days of applying pressure on Hamas and warning on social media that “all HELL” will break loose if Hamas did not accept his deal by Sunday evening, Trump appeared to pivot after the militant group’s conditional acceptance late Friday. In a message on Truth Social, Trump said “Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza” so hostages could be returned and added that he believed Hamas was “ready for a lasting PEACE.”
The onus is now on Netanyahu, who has stated that Israel would end the war if all hostages were returned and Hamas disarmed. Israeli officials and government advisers have said in recent weeks they did not believe Hamas would agree to either condition, but Hamas’s response on Friday, agreeing to release all hostages and asking to discuss the terms of the Israeli withdrawal, may test Netanyahu’s willingness to end the war.
“If Hamas is truly willing to release all of the hostages, then Prime Minister Netanyahu — under pressure from President Trump as well as a majority of Israelis who support the war ending on that basis — will have to decide if doing so is still a sufficient basis alone,” said Jonathan Panikoff, a Middle East expert at the Atlantic Council. “Almost certainly, Prime Minister Netanyahu will be disappointed by the president’s statement on Truth Social and concerned that it reopens the potential for negotiations over the 20-point proposal, which Netanyahu almost certainly viewed as take-it-or-leave-it.”
David Halbfinger for the NYT (“For Netanyahu, Trump’s Nod to Peace Puts Him in a Tough Spot“):
This did not go the way Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted.
On Monday, the Israeli leader won a peace plan from President Trump that promised him total victory, in the form of a take-it-or-leave-it message to Hamas. The militant group would have to release all the Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza within 72 hours, lay down its arms and surrender any role in the territory’s future — or Israel would be given a free hand to pursue the group’s destruction.
On Friday, responding to a new ultimatum from Mr. Trump, Hamas announced that it was ready to release all the hostages. But it said nothing about how soon it would do so, demurred on laying down its arms, and said it wanted to “discuss the details” of Mr. Trump’s plan.
To Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of Mr. Netanyahu’s, this was “in essence, a rejection by Hamas” of the president’s proposal, he wrote on social media.
To Michael Herzog, Mr. Netanyahu’s former ambassador to the United States, it was “a ‘no’ cloaked as a ‘yes,’” he said in an interview.
Yet Mr. Trump embraced the Hamas statement as an unqualified “yes.” “Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE,” he wrote on social media. “Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!”
[…]
The prospect of a return of the hostages and an end to the war buoyed hopes in both Israel and Gaza on Saturday after nearly two years of brutal conflict and devastation.
Mr. Netanyahu now finds himself squeezed both by domestic political concerns and by geopolitical pressure from Mr. Trump, from Muslim and Arab nations across the Middle East, and from countries far and wide that greeted Friday night’s developments as if peace had already broken out.
“He will find himself with the entire world clapping and he needs to explain why he’s against it,” said Eran Etzion, a former deputy Israeli national security adviser.
The president’s call for the Israeli military to stand down immediately — with negotiations to follow between Israel and Hamas — could not have been welcomed by the prime minister, Mr. Etzion said. “These negotiations will be conducted under the conditions of a cease-fire, which is contrary to Netanyahu’s design,” he said. “Netanyahu wanted this all to take place under Israeli military pressure.”
The prospect of a return of the hostages and an end to the war buoyed hopes in both Israel and Gaza on Saturday after nearly two years of brutal conflict and devastation.
Mr. Netanyahu now finds himself squeezed both by domestic political concerns and by geopolitical pressure from Mr. Trump, from Muslim and Arab nations across the Middle East, and from countries far and wide that greeted Friday night’s developments as if peace had already broken out.
“He will find himself with the entire world clapping and he needs to explain why he’s against it,” said Eran Etzion, a former deputy Israeli national security adviser.
The president’s call for the Israeli military to stand down immediately — with negotiations to follow between Israel and Hamas — could not have been welcomed by the prime minister, Mr. Etzion said. “These negotiations will be conducted under the conditions of a cease-fire, which is contrary to Netanyahu’s design,” he said. “Netanyahu wanted this all to take place under Israeli military pressure.”
The quoted analysts are right that, despite President Trump’s triumphalism, this amounts to a rejection of his take it or leave it deal. Were Netanyahu a normal politician, I would also agree that Hamas has boxed him in.
But, as he has demonstrated time and again over the last quarter-century, he is not a normal politician. The fact that he ordered another bombing mission after Trump’s demand that he stop would seem to signal that he’s going to continue pushing for a maximal victory.
It’s possible that a deal is reached that eventually returns Gaza to Palestinian control. I can not imagine, though, that he will allow Hamas to continue to exist as an armed group.
“Despite President Trump’s Triumphalism” should go on a T-shirt. You could sell them with Velcro that lets you change the graphic – depicting Gaza, Ukraine, Inflation, Illegal Immigration, Autism, WH gardens, etc. – depending on whatever BS he’s unduly claiming unprecedented success for at the time.
The Trump Peace Plan For Trump Club Med Gaza, is different things for different people.
Trump: Hamas surrenders and then a series of extremely unlikely things magically occur unless he suddenly changes his mind because he saw a meme. Whatever happens he declares victory and gets back to attacking comedians.
Netanyahu: Hamas ‘surrenders’ and he goes on killing them. Kill them in Gaza, kill them in Qatar, kill them if they’re sitting in a Paris café. . .
Hamas: Hamas unloads the burden of the hostages and tries to go on killing Israelis. The last 1,000 Hamas soldiers heroically give their lives as 10,000 Gazan civilians die to give them cover. Leadership in Qatar orders room service.
Fatah: Hamas pretends to surrender, Israel pretends not to kill them for a couple days, and somehow the PA rolls into Gaza and. . . Hey, Bibi, can we borrow some of your tanks?
Egypt and Jordan: We’re gonna do what, now? Put troops in Gaza? Are you fucking cra – wait, the Saudis will pay us how much? And our troops get to randomly beat, torture and murder anyone remotely related to Hamas? Meh, could be profitable.
Tony Blair: Look at me, I matter again!
The Europeans: Let’s pretend this is real so we can stop our futile diplomatic efforts and buy new toys from the Israeli defense industry.
The American People: Um. . . what? Oh, right, the Gaza thing. I’m bored with that, what about Taylor Swift’s new album?
@Michael Reynolds:
All these caveats are reasonable.
And yet, the offer seems the best available exit from the current catastrophe.
Doubtless Hamas, even if it nominally accepts, will simply try again to subvert the Fatah/PA/”interim authority” in both Gaza and the West Bank, and renew some sort of terror campaign.
Doubtless Smotirich, Ben-Gvir, et al, will continue to dream their dreams of annexation and expulsion.
However, Israeli public opinion seems on-board for it, as do the key Arab players.
So, it’s worth a try.
And who knows: maybe the horse will end up singing?
@JohnSF:
Pigs could fly. Probably not the best animal to mention in the context. Let’s stick with your horse.
I never abandon hope, abandoning hope is weak. But betting on this working is a sucker bet, as we say here in Las Vegas. This is a bag of snakes.
@Michael Reynolds: TTrue enough.
But even a temporary cessation, while the snakes figure out the best way to wriggle and bite next, still alleviates the humaintarian catastrophe in Gaza, and the escalating diplomatic catastrophe for Israel.
It’s worth a try, and what other options are there in prospect?
It might have been better if Israel had planned for such an outcome from the outset, and accordingly gone for a rapid maximal assault on Hamas, followed by some sort of pan-Arab peace-keeping operation.
But that’s Netanyahu for you.
(And also Hamas, to be fair)
I am bemused by the whole “Gaza peace deal”. I seem to be the only one asking what possible authority Trump and the Blair excrescence could claim to appoint themselves to run the place. I don’t even see who could hypothetically have such authority except the Palestinians themselves, who haven’t even been consulted.
@Ken_L:
The only sort-of recognised Palestinian legal authority would be the Palestinian Authority; that is, Fatah.
Who will go along with whatever is decided to achieve a truce, for several reasons:
– humanitarian, above all
– getting Hamas sidelined
– not wishing to cross the Arab states who favour a possible exit from the current situation
@JohnSF: But the “20 points” don’t just cover a truce. They propose a “Board of Peace” chaired by Trump that would govern Gaza, to the exclusion of the Palestinians. Who appoints the members and to whom (if anybody) they would be accountable is a mystery.
@Ken_L:
Oh, come on, Ken you know the answer: Trump appoints whoever will kiss his ass and swell his bank account. And ‘accountable’ is not a word Trump knows.
@Ken_L:
As Israel was the ” occupying power” prior to evacuation in 2005, it still has legal standing and responsibility.
The only other party with possible standing would be the Palestinian Authority.
Or perhaps Egypt, as occupying power 1948 to 1967, but Egypt effectively washed its hands of Gaza a long time ago.
(Or perhaps a transfer back to the UK as the the Mandatory power as of 1948? Which would meet with a hearty “f@ck that crap” from all Brits.)
In effect, Israel can cede governance of Gaza if it wishes; so long as the PA goes along with that, there seems to be no obstacle in international law.
@JohnSF: Sooner or later, Trump’s 20 points are going to run headlong into the fact that most of the world’s nations recognise Palestine as an independent state, presumably including Gaza.