Senior Israeli officials, with knowledge of the hostage-Gaza ceasefire talks in Doha, confirmed on Saturday that the Biden administration was optimistic about a future deal.
The officials said significant progress had been made, and the gaps have narrowed on all the remaining issues regarding the deal for the release of the hostages and the ceasefire in Gaza.
Senior American officials told Walla that President Biden‘s goal is to reach a deal by the end of next week and, at the same time, deter Iran and Hezbollah from launching an attack on Israel that could sabotage mediator’s efforts.
Biden and his aides said they felt they were closer than ever to a deal. “I’m optimistic. It’s far from over. There are still some issues left, but I think we have a chance,” Biden told reporters on Friday.
On Friday, at the end of a two-day summit in Doha, the US presented Israel and Hamas with a new mediation proposal in an attempt to close the remaining gaps and reach a deal.
A senior American official said that the new proposal bridges almost all the remaining gaps that the parties have been discussing for the past six weeks.
One of the gaps that the new proposal bridges is the order in which hostages are supposed to be released and the list of Palestinian security prisoners who will be released in exchange.
An American official told the Jerusalem Post that there were “uncomfortable” parts of the deal, noting the “difficult” element of exchanging Palestinian prisoners for hostages.
Shortly after the summit in Doha ended on Friday, President Biden called the Emir of Qatar and the President of Egypt to discuss the mediation proposal and the plan for the coming days.
“There was a consensus among the three leaders that this process is now at an endpoint,” said an American official.
The American official admitted that the agreement is not perfect but emphasized that it is the best deal possible at the moment that will get the hostages out of Gaza, give relief to the residents of the Strip, and reduce the risk of a regional war.
“If we continue to negotiate for months and months and try to get a perfect deal or get every last drop of blood out of the stone, we risk that there will be no hostages left to save,” the American official said.
A senior Israeli official confirmed that most of the progress in the talks in Doha was made between Israel and the mediators – the USA, Qatar, and Egypt.
Smokescreen negotiations
Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad, who is close to Sinwar, told the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese media outlet Al-Mayadeen on Friday that none of the remaining gaps were closed during the talks in Doha, directly disputing Israeli and American claims.
Hamad claimed that Netanyahu was trying to buy time and said that the US and the other mediators should put pressure on Israel.
Overall, Qatar has put significant diplomatic pressure on Iran to avoid escalating the situation and sabotaging the negotiations.
“The Iranians claimed during their talks with the Qataris that they want to see a ceasefire in Gaza and the reduction of tensions in the region. Now is their chance to show that they are serious and act in the coming week to make that happen,” an American official told Walla.
Hannah Sarisohn and Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.
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