Posted on 08/18/24
| News Source: JPost
Hamas is under pressure to accept the United States “bridging proposal” for a Gaza hostage deal as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to arrive in Israel on Sunday in advance of what Washington hopes will be a final round of negotiations set for Cairo on Wednesday.
“There is no answer from Hamas,” a source told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday, explaining that “there is heavy pressure on Hamas” from the United States, Egypt, and Qatar to “give a positive response.”
Those two Arab countries have been the main mediators for the deal, with the support of the US.
The US and Israel expressed cautious optimism after CIA Director William Burns held two days of talks in Doha that ended Friday.
US special envoy Brett McGurk, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al Thani, and Egyptian Intelligence Chief Abbas Kamel participated in the negotiations. The high-level Israel delegation that returned Friday was headed by Mossad Chief David Barnea.
At the end of those Doha talks, the United States put a “final bridging proposal” on the table, which it holds addressed the taps that exist between Israel and Hamas with regard to the three-phase hostage proposal US President Joe Biden unveiled on May 31, based on an Israeli proposal of May 27.
A senior US administration official told reporters on Friday that “What is on the table now basically bridges every gap, and we do believe it's time to conclude it. And when we get together next weekend, the aim will very much be to do so.”
Barnea’s team updated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the talks in Doha, his office said on Saturday night.
“The team expressed to the Prime Minister cautious optimism regarding the possibility of progress on the deal, in accordance with the updated American proposal (based on the May 27th framework), including components acceptable to Israel,” the Prime Minister’s Office explained.
“It is hoped that the heavy pressure on Hamas by the United States and the mediators will remove its opposition to the American proposal and will lead to a breakthrough in the talks,” the Prime Minister’s Office stated.