Until Israel, Hamas or both moderate their demands for a hostage release deal, the negotiating track will continue to drag out.
Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, right, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, second from right, walk to a Joint Ministerial Meeting of the GCC-U.S. Strategic Partnership to discuss the humanitarian crises faced in Gaza, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on April 29, 2024. in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Israel and the West Bank.
One thing that has remained fairly consistent during this time is the lack of formidable progress on the diplomatic track. Israeli and Hamas negotiators, working through the United States, Qatar and Egypt, have spent the last five months trading proposals for a hostage release deal. The talks have been the diplomatic equivalent of a full-mouth root canal.
If there is any blame to go around, it lies entirely on the shoulders of Israel and Hamas. Ultimately, the two parties’ objectives are near incomparable. Israel wants Hamas dead and buried. Hamas wants to prevent that outcome, survive long into the future, cement itself as an irreversible component of the broader Palestinian national movement and remain the top dog in Gaza.
It also defies belief that Hamas, whose entire credo is armed resistance against Israel until the state itself ceases to exist, would give up the fight or put itself in the vulnerable position of releasing all of the hostage on a mere promise of Israel ending the war. The last thing Hamas wants to do is hand over all its chips without being reasonably assured that Israel’s air and ground operations will stop indefinitely.
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