Difficult negotiations behind the Palestinian-Israeli ceasefire agreement
After a month and a half of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the two sides finally reached the first ceasefire agreement on November 22 local time. The negotiation process for this agreement was very tortuous, starting at the beginning of the war and not until late October, when there were some breakthroughs. Biden revealed the news on the same day, while CNN also revealed more details of the negotiations on the same day.
At the heart of the deal is a "hostage-for-ceasefire," in which Hamas releases women and children held hostage in exchange for an Israeli suspension of military operations in the Gaza Strip, CNN reported. The negotiation of this agreement involved the participation and coordination of the United States, Qatar, Israel and Hamas, among others, with Qatar playing an important mediation role.
CNN, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter, said that on October 7, Hamas launched an attack that took more than 200 hostages, including U.S. citizens. Biden immediately opened negotiations with Hamas about the release of the hostages, but due to communication difficulties, it was not until late October that effective contacts were made with Hamas with the help of the Qatari coordinator. This phase of the negotiations, known as the "pilot" negotiations, resulted in the release of two American hostages, Judith Ra'anan and Natalie La'anan, on October 20.
A senior national security officer of Biden told CNN: "That day was a testament that we have successfully established a channel of communication with Hamas, through Qatar." This channel laid the groundwork for subsequent negotiations on a "hostage-for-ceasefire" agreement.
Click image for full size Two American hostages were released, from The Times of Israel After the "pilot" talks, the United States, Qatar, Israel and Hamas officially began negotiations on a weeks-long "hostage-for-ceasefire" agreement. This phase of the negotiations involved the direct involvement of the top leaders of the parties and the intelligence agencies. Biden had a number of direct phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Qatari Prime Minister met with Hamas's senior political leader Haniyeh in Doha, and the US Intelligence Agency and Israel's Mossad joined the talks.
During this phase of the negotiations, the two sides engaged in repeated consultations and tug-of-war on the details of the agreement, including the timing of the ceasefire, the number of hostages, safe passage and monitoring mechanisms. On October 24, Hamas appeared to agree to the conditions for the release of the women and children, but the United States failed to convince Israel. On 27 October, the Israeli army launched a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, interrupting the negotiation process. CNN reported: "At times, negotiations seem painfully slow. One informed ** said, "Every step is like a tooth extraction." ”
Click image for full size On November 21, the families of Israeli hostages held a demonstration. After Israel's ground offensive, negotiations continued for several more weeks, until November 3, when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel and urged Israel to accept a "humanitarian moratorium" to push for a resolution of the hostage issue. Under pressure from the United States, it took several days for Israel to agree to a "tactical pause".
Click for larger image Blinken visited Israel on November 3 for talks with Netanyahu. In the final stages of negotiations, which hostages were released and whether their information was made public became a key obstacle to reaching an agreement. A senior U.S. official told CNN that Hamas initially refused to provide the identity of the hostages, and it was not until November 12, when Biden had a "very important and very tense phone call" with the Emir of Qatar, that Hamas relented and agreed to provide the age, gender and nationality of the hostages. On November 15, Biden called the Emir of Qatar again on the sidelines of the APEC summit to tell him that "the time has come." Emile assured Biden that he would do everything he could to broker this deal.
The White House's Middle East coordinator, Brett McGurk, then traveled to Qatar and then Israel to check the text of the final agreement with the parties. A week ago, Netanyahu told McGek: "We need this agreement," a person familiar with the matter said. On November 19, Israel's wartime cabinet approved the agreement after making some minor changes to the final text. The Emir of Qatar forwarded the agreement to Hamas and allegedly said to Hamas: "This is the final **." On the morning of November 21, Hamas replied to Qatar that they had "ratified the agreement." In the early morning of the 22nd, after several meetings, the Israeli cabinet also approved the "hostage-for-ceasefire" agreement. A source revealed that Netanyahu grabbed McGurk by the arm after wrapping up a tense cabinet meeting.
In the early morning of the 22nd local time, the Israeli cabinet approved a temporary ceasefire agreement with Hamas. According to a statement issued by Qatar**, the agreement states that Hamas will release 50 held hostages of women and children in exchange for a temporary ceasefire for four days; For its part, Israel will release a total of 150 Palestinian women held in Israeli prisons.