Blinken in talks with Qataris, Saudis to bring Hamas back to negotiations after Sinwar elimination
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is already communicating with Hamas’s mediators, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, to rekindle ceasefire negotiations after they stalled when Yayha Sinwar pulled away from the road-blocked discussions.
Blinken spoke with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud from aboard Air Force One on Thursday as US officials awaited confirmation from Israel of Sinwar’s death, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Thursday afternoon.
“Over the past few weeks, there have been no negotiations for an end to the war because Sinwar has refused to negotiate. There’s been no path to ending this war because Sinwar has refused to talk about releasing the hostages or coming to a ceasefire,” Miller said. “We now see an opportunity with him having been removed from the battlefield, having been removed from the leadership of Hamas. We want to seize that opportunity.”
Miller did note that it’s still unclear who will be making decisions for Hamas in place of Sinwar.
“What we do know is that the person who had been the chief obstacle to moving forward with an end of the war is now fortuitously no longer with us,” he said.
Of course, Miller said, there will be tough decisions that the Israelis will need to make to get an agreement to end this war.
Tough decisions
Miller said the US has made clear several times that it will have very “direct, candid conversations about the need to make those tough decisions.”
“But we weren’t even in a place to do that when you have no one at the other end of the table, willing to even agree to negotiate,” he said, adding that mediators were unable to bridge previous proposals.
The US will be having “private conversations” with Israel about the steps it wants to see it take towards achieving a ceasefire, according to Miller.
“What we’ll be discussing with them is how they take those strategic objectives that they have met and turn that into an enduring strategic victory,” he said. “And from our perspective, that means a path forward in Gaza that isn’t just a military path forward for degrading Hamas and continuing to fight Hamas fighters over and over.”
The US wants to see a path forward that brings the hostages home and sets the conditions for the “day after,” where there is reconstruction and actual security in Gaza, and a political path forward for the people in Gaza that the people determine, Miller added.
However, he did say the US wants to see the IDF fully withdrawn from Gaza following the war.
“Those are the conversations we are going to have with the Government of Israel, as well as with our other partners in the days ahead, those are the conversations the Secretary started already today,” according to Miller.
Miller said while Hamas still does pose and Israel still has a right to take on that threat, the long-term solution is not to just continue military operations.
“You’re not going to return all the hostages through fighting, nor are you going to achieve a durable, lasting end to the war just by fighting on the battlefield,” he said.
Miller made clear Israel faces a different situation on the northern border with Hezbollah, saying its forces are still in close proximity and still not only maintain the capability to launch terrorist attacks against Israel but are still launching terrorist attacks against Israel.
“We have never believed that the two conflicts ought to be linked together,” Miller said. “And just when you look at it, you’re pursuing separate diplomatic resolutions with the state of Lebanon and trying to find a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.”
Hezbollah linked the two conflicts even when we didn’t think they were linked, he said, and Hezbollah has continued to link the conflicts.
“What we have always believed is stability brings about stability,” Miller added. “So if you could bring an end to the conflict in Gaza, that heightens the chances of reaching a diplomatic resolution to the fight across the blue line. That remains our assessment.”
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