US, Egypt, Qatar call jointly for immediate conclusion to ceasefire negotiations

(JNS) — U.S., Egyptian and Qatari leaders released a statement on Thursday calling jointly for an immediate conclusion to talks between Israel and Hamas about a ceasefire and hostage release agreement.

“It is time to bring immediate relief both to the long-suffering people of Gaza as well as the long-suffering hostages and their families,” the three stated. “The time has come to conclude the ceasefire and hostages and detainees release deal.”

The statement, signed by U.S. President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, called on both sides to resume urgent talks next Thursday in either Doha or Cairo.

A senior Biden administration official told reporters on Thursday evening that the decision to issue a joint statement was the result of calls earlier in the week between Biden and the other two leaders.

“Both Qatar and Egypt believe this would be very useful, as they’re working on the Hamas side, and the Israelis are also very receptive to this,” the senior official said.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office stated almost immediately that it would send a negotiating delegation next Thursday. “Pursuant to the proposal by the U.S. and the mediators, Israel will—on Aug. 15—send the negotiations team to a place to be determined in order to finalize the details of the implementation of the framework agreement,” it said.

“A statement from three leaders is unusual, but we think it’s significant,” the senior U.S. official told reporters, adding that preparatory talks between the mediators and parties will take place in the coming days.

“There is no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay,” per the statement from the three leaders. “It is time to release the hostages, begin the ceasefire and implement this agreement.”

The statement referred to an Israeli proposal that Biden announced on May 31 which was to lead to a multi-phase deal to halt hostilities and release the hostages held in Gaza since Oct. 7, along with the release of an untold number of Palestinian security prisoners.

The United Nations Security Council endorsed the deal. Since then, each side has accused the other of adding untenable conditions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted on maintaining a security presence along two key Gaza corridors to ensure Hamas’s remaining forces stay contained in the Rafah area. He has refused to agree to end the war once the hostages are free, including the return of dead hostages, instead saying that Israel must act to ensure Hamas that cannot retain power in Gaza.

The Biden administration has accused Hamas multiple times of failing to move forward on the proposal. A senior Biden administration official said weeks ago that a deal was closer than it has been in months and that a framework had been agreed upon, with some details of the actual implementation of the phased deal still up in the air.

“We do think there’s a way forward here. And I would just emphasize, it’s incumbent upon not just the Israeli side, but also the Hamas side,” the senior official said. “At the end of the day, this is a hostage negotiation. They’re holding hostages, and we’re going to need some things from the Israelis. We’re going to need some things from the Hamas side, through the Qataris and the Egyptians, to try to bring this to a resolution.”

The official said some four or five issues still must be hammered out but did not go into specifics. Both sides “have very firm positions” that “might be unbridgeable” as a whole, but need to be looked at individually, the official said.

“You treat each issue one by one, and with each one, there’s some trade space, and you can kind of find a way forward,” the senior official said, adding that “we’re fairly confident—and I base this on our consultations, not only with the Israelis but also Egyptians and Qataris—that there’s a way forward here, but also, more importantly, there needs to be a way forward here. We have lives on the line, particularly the hostages.”

The senior official did not mention the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which the White House has constantly emphasized when discussing the need for a ceasefire.

The joint statement includes an offer by the mediators, “if necessary,” to present “a final bridging proposal that resolves the remaining implementation issues in a manner that meets the expectations of all parties.”

The senior official told reporters this type of offer has previously been made on specific issues.

“I think what’s left here are really the implementation issues of the deal. It has to do with the sequencing of the exchange and some other issues that are complicated, but we believe there’s enough trade space,” the official said. “Having a proposal that’s unified between the three mediators can be quite powerful.”

Asked whether the joint statement was a roundabout way of giving Iran an off-ramp from its threatened attack of Israel in order to give a ceasefire in Gaza a chance, the senior official denied any connection. 

But the official said that a major Iranian attack would put a ceasefire on the backburner—something that goes against the interests of Hamas, Iran’s proxy. 

The official also disputed the view that Iran has a right to retaliate for last week’s assassination of Hamas political head Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Israel is widely thought to be responsible, though it has neither taken credit nor denied involvement.

“There’s been a kind of a sense out there that somehow Iran now has the right to attack Israel militarily. We completely reject that logic,” the senior official said. “I think the consequences of such a direct attack could be quite significant, including for Iran and Iran’s economy.”