One of the main disputes in the ongoing Gaza hostage and ceasefire negotiations in Qatar is Israel’s refusal to commit to ending the war after a potential deal’s second phase, Haaretz reported on Sunday.
A permanent ceasefire has been one of Hamas’s main demands, and the report said the Palestinian group wants the genocidal war to end after the second phase of the deal.
Instead of committing to a permanent ceasefire, the report said there will be an attempt to present a US commitment to “work with Israel towards ending the war.” That would mean the deal would hinge on a US promise to pressure Israel to end military operations in Gaza, and there would be no actual commitment from Israel.
The Haaretz report comes as US officials are insisting that a deal is “very close.” Hamas officials have also told the media that negotiations have been moving in a positive direction and that they were waiting for the Israeli officials Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent to Qatar to approve their latest draft proposal.
Officials from the incoming Trump administration are also saying that a deal could happen soon, including Steve Witkoff, who will serve as Trump’s envoy to the Middle East and has been involved in the latest negotiations.
Trump himself has repeatedly threatened there would be “hell to pay” if Hamas didn’t start releasing Israeli hostages by his inauguration. Vice President-elect JD Vance elaborated on what that might mean in an interview on Sunday.
“It means enabling the Israelis to knock out the final couple of battalions of Hamas and their leadership. It means very aggressive sanctions and financial penalties on those who are supporting terrorist organizations in the Middle East. It means actually doing the job of American leadership,” Vance said.
The talking point of the Republicans is that President Biden hasn’t done enough to support Israel even though he’s provided Israel with an unprecedented amount of military aid.
In Israel, Netanyahu, who sabotaged previous rounds of negotiations, has been coming under increasing pressure to reach a deal. Over 800 parents of Israeli soldiers recently sent a letter to Netanyahu, accusing him of sacrificing their children for political survival.
“We accuse you of sacrificing the lives of both the hostages and the soldiers. We call on you to stop the war immediately, bring home the hostages, and spare the lives of our soldiers. Let us rebuild the ruins you and your government are responsible for,” the letter reads.
It doesn't matter if Israel agrees to anything. Agreements are only for non Israeli and non US sides to abide by.
Yes, but they're all Noble lies.
… Or on monarchy terms… Royal Lies…!
Theatre of the absurd.
Well stated!!!
President Trump's problematic solution to Israel's Palestinian genocide could be mitigated if the Houthis launch an all-out missile attack against Israeli and US Middle East targets over the next week. They should attack targets that matter.
A few words and gestures from Trump to Netanyahu won't suffice.
If China and Iran are supplying the Houthis with hypersonic missiles, then all the better.
Israel would rather assassinate their Prime Minister than have peace, they have done it before and no doubt would do it again……. Remember that Mossad were the original funder of Hamas.
Just like the USA, Israel is not agreement capable. The Russians know it. Europe knows it. The Father of Lies must be laughing his ass off.
False. Israel has peace treaties with Jordan, Egypt, the UAE, and Bahrain.
The difference is that those nations don't have, as their goal, the destruction of Israel, and they don't constantly try to murder the people of Israel.
See the difference?
To suggest that the "Father of Lies" (Satan) is opposed to Israel defending itself from a terrorist organization (Hamas) that aims to slaughter its children is absurd, ignorant, and grotesque.
Yes, Israel has peace treaties until they don't.
Well, if you are worried that your friends in Hamas will enter into a bad deal, then you can inform them to be cautious.
I guess your point is, when dealing with a terrorist organization like Hamas, it is important that we worry about how they are treated by a major US ally.
Sure, that makes sense.
Have you read the Hamas charter?
It's a bit hard to negotiate with a group that says in its charter that peace and negotiations are pointless.
What can you negotiate about? Both groups are dedicated to the utter destruction of the other. There is no middle ground. That is clear from the negotiations.
The PLO agreed to stop killing Israelis, so the Oslo Accords could be signed and the Palestinian Authority took control of the West Bank and Gaza (well, until Hamas staged a violent coup and took Gaza).
Hamas has a charter that specifically says there are no negotiations, no peace conferences, and no compromise. There is only Jihad until every inch of "Islamic land" (the entire nation of Israel) is returned to their control.
So, either they follow their charter or they change it. So far, they are following it.
Any peace would be fake, and Israel will expect a handout of billions to agree to it, as if we have not given them enough.
You have it backwards, of course.
Israel wanted peace when they left Gaza in 2006; that is why they left and turned Gaza over to the PA. They got rockets instead. They wanted peace when they left Hamas alone and allowed billions of dollars of aid to reach Gaza; they got Oct 7, and the slaughter of 1,200 of their people.
So, the only way to prevent Hamas from achieving its clearly stated goal of destroying Israel is to destroy Hamas. Obviously half-measures don't work.
No, Hamas is an armed wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. The original funders of the Muslim Brotherhood were Nazi Germany, in the 1930s. Both the Muslim Brotherhood and Nazi Germany shared ideological views, with a common goal of the extermination of Jews.
https://english.alarabiya.net/features/2018/06/27/ANALYSIS-The-Nazi-roots-of-Muslim-Brotherhood
This spirit lives today in Hamas. Just ask them – they are very open about it. "[Peace] initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement…Those conferences are no more than a means to appoint the infidels as arbitrators in the lands of Islam…There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are but a waste of time, an exercise in futility." (Article 13)
https://irp.fas.org/world/para/docs/880818a.htm
So – where is the compromise or middle ground between life and extermination? There is none.
In other words, the same as it's been since this started.
Redundancy!!! And boring!…
Yes, with Biden in charge.
I suppose you're implying that things would have been different under Trump. I guess him chastising Biden/Harris for withholding a shipment of 2,000 lb bombs must have meant that he would have done otherwise and would have demanded that Netanyahu stop his insistence of destroying Hamas.
What trump supporters seem incapable of understanding is trump does not change. What he did or did not due his first time around is what will happen his second time around. Trump will support Israel to the fullest.
Trump changes all the time.
For example, in 2016, he suggested that the Israeli regime should negotiate a peace with the Palestinians.
Then Sheldon Adelson waved a $125 million check under his nose and he instantly became “the most pro-Israel presidential candidate in history.”
Yes, but Adelson is dead, and now Musk – the wealthiest man in the world – has the check book. The very fact of Trump's corruption is why he can change, depending on who signs the check.
And Saudi Arabia has already given Trump's family $2 billion, so $125 million is chump change.
Has Biden ever been in charge?
“It means enabling the Israelis to knock out the final couple of battalions of Hamas and their leadership. It means very aggressive sanctions and financial penalties on those who are supporting terrorist organizations in the Middle East. It means actually doing the job of American leadership,” Vance said.
Vance is an idiot.This is what Trump said"
“Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”Trump added.
That doesn't sound like taking out "the final couple of battalions of Hamas" or imposing "very aggressive sanctions and financial penalties on those who are supporting terrorist organizations". Especially considering that Gaza is already rubble.
Oh, and the US already supports the number one state sponsor of terrorism on the planet earth and that is Israel
Look folks, this propagandist offers not a single word of criticism against Biden or his people. They are the people in charge of US policy in this, but not a word. Distractions are the tactic of propagandists.
You couldn't be more full of shit. My profile is wide open. I challenge you to find one comment by me about Biden that WASN'T critical of him or the witch he had as VP. You have this idiotic idea that anyone criticizing Trump must be a Biden supporter. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I agree with you. There is has been plenty of criticism of Biden not just here but on other sites. Meanwhile trump is running run talking about making Greenland the next state. There is an example of true distraction.
What? There was plenty of criticism of Biden. Do you not watch Fox news?
It's the Americans who want this.
Sadly 'yes' on both sides of the aisles. Both Left and Right politicians and media are stopping any protests – should they even think about it – or send out the SS when some do occur.
They mention Steve Witkoff here in the article. Has anyone noticed how scared he was when Trump called him to the podium? The guy could hardly speak in fear that he would say the worng word to the boss. And Trump treated him like a child tapping him on the shoulder or back.
When Trump – the Peace President – speaks all hell breaks lose.
Your cheap smears and contrivances against Trump are irrelevant. He has had no role whatsoever in the Israeli aggression. How is your hero Crook Biden doing on this problem, which is the subject of this article??? Would you care to comment on Biden's role?
"He has had no role whatsoever in the Israeli aggression" LOL. You forgot what he did in his first term. He approved the Israel annexing new lands. Meanwhile, he was afraid on Iran as they blasted a US airbase under his watch and he did nothing.
Biden my hero, are you kidding. That just shows you simply assume things, not thinking. Biden is a fool and Zionist Marxist, but Trump is not the answer – he is an oligarch leaning fascist.
They're having too much fun mass murdering thousands of women, children and babies. Why stop now and potentially cut off the unlimited flow of Billions of dollars from the US congress?
No permanent ceasefire…?! Expect hostages come home in body bags…!
Would that make you happy?
It makes the crime minister happy giving him one more excuse to grab more land in Gaza…!
Why would Biden give trump a gift of a cease fire with only 7 days left. Trump will claim the reason the deal was made was because Hamas feared him as the next President. Biden should just turn the mess over to trump and let him worried about it.
We must include…. Israel is a bit at a total loss…
Jesús Christ: Super Star!!!
Blessed are the Peace Makers!!!
There will only be peace in Gaza when they complete the ethnic cleansing
Of course they won't commit to a permanent ceasefire. As of the writing of this, it seems like an announcement for a ceasefire is in the offing. We can count on Israel to sign an agreement that they have no intention of honoring. They don't like this but even this they were forced into because of their failures to achieve their main objectives.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/23e5945bba9f84cb43f8c18112b6bb5299f456e6560ed9c802fa3be03bd8c9fa.png I think this peace deal would make everyone happy
Palestine gets the Negev, connecting Gaza Strip and West Bank, while Israel gets to keep its southern coastline and the north, with Golan being returned to Syria
To restate some who said, it’s like telling the farmer they aren’t allowed to pick corn again.