FLASH
Shkruar nga PamfletiA deal to secure the release of the large number of hostages Hamas is holding in Gaza seems out of reach for now, despite active negotiations involving the US, Israel, Qatar and Hamas.
There is no prospect of Israel agreeing to a sustained pause in the fighting without the release of a significant number of hostages, a senior US official told CNN.
Multilateral talks - in which Qatar is playing a key mediating role - have been going on for weeks and have so far produced many ideas, including the release of about 10 to 15 hostages in exchange for a one- or two-day ceasefire, said diplomatic sources close to the talks. But as of Wednesday, such a proposal was not on the table, the US official said.
An Israeli official said Israel was "ready for a pause" if it could be assured that Hamas was "serious about releasing the hostages". What is not clear is how long Israel would be willing to accept a pause and what would constitute an acceptable number of freed hostages.
Negotiations have also centered around a hostage exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, CNN previously reported.
Only a handful of hostages — including two American citizens — have been freed since the war began. After their successful exit, US President Joe Biden revealed that Israel had agreed to a brief truce to secure their release.
The Biden administration has continued to call on Israel to impose additional "humanitarian pauses" to facilitate the release of more hostages. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will not agree to a ceasefire without the release of the hostages, a message he reiterated in a social media post on Wednesday.
Weeks of efforts to extricate a large group of hostages have brought to light a host of complications. The hostages, who are of various nationalities, are not believed to be in one place and it is not clear exactly how many of them are in Gaza; communication with Hamas is slow; and there are concerns about how to safely move any large groups of civilians through Gaza when the strip is under constant bombardment.
Officials have also stressed that Hamas is far from a typical – and by any means reliable – negotiating partner. "Honestly, we are dealing with Hamas," said a senior administration official. " This is not something that anyone expects to be done in good faith ."
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