WASHINGTON — Two days of talks over a cease-fire and the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip wrapped in Doha Friday after negotiators presented Israel and Hamas with a so-called bridging proposal to resolve their remaining differences.
A joint statement from the United States and mediators Qatar and Egypt described the new proposal as one that “builds on areas of agreement over the past week, and bridges remaining gaps in the manner that allows for a swift implementation of the deal.”
Leading the negotiations in the Qatari capital were CIA Director William Burns, Mossad Director David Barnea, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and Abbas Kamel, director of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service. Hamas refused to attend the talks.
Senior US, Qatari and Egyptian officials will resume negotiations in Cairo before the end of next week, the statement read. Over the coming days, technical teams will hash out implementation details of the bridging proposal, “including arrangements to implement the agreement’s extensive humanitarian provisions, as well as specifics relating to hostages and detainees.”
Hanging over the latest round of negotiations, which got underway Thursday, was Iran’s promised retaliation for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month. Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has also vowed to avenge the Israeli-claimed strike that killed one of its commanders, Fuad Shukr, in Beirut on July 30.
The Biden administration believes that Iran and its allies might rethink or at least scale back their planned retaliation if Israel were to reach a cease-fire with Hamas.
Sheikh Mohammed spoke with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Bagheri Kani, on Thursday, according to a statement by the Qatari Foreign Ministry. The Washington Post reports that he urged Iran’s leaders to delay their assault on Israel to avoid scuppering the cease-fire talks.
Negotiators are pushing for a deal more than two months after President Joe Biden unveiled what he described as a three-stage Israeli proposal to end the war and free the remaining 115 living and dead captives. Included in the framework for a “full and complete cease-fire” was the release of scores of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails and a surge in much-needed humanitarian assistance into Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was accused of jeopardizing the talks by inserting new conditions last month, including a demand that the Israel’s military retain control of a strategic area near the Egypt-Gaza border.