The leaders of the United States, Qatar and Egypt issued a joint statement Thursday evening calling on Israel and Hamas to return to the negotiating table on Aug. 15 to finalize a cease-fire and hostage release agreement, saying \u201cthere is no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe three of us and our teams have worked tirelessly over many months to forge a framework agreement that is now on the table with only the details of implementation left to conclude,\u201d said the statement, signed by President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is time to release the hostages, begin the ceasefire, and implement this agreement,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s office said in a statement it would send a delegation to the resumed negotiations, to be held in Cairo or Doha, Qatar, \u201cto finalize the details for implementing the framework agreement.\u201d Hamas gave no immediate response.<\/p>\n
The new initiative came as Iran has threatened a massive retaliation in response to the assassination last week of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which came soon after an Israeli airstrike near Beirut that killed a senior leader of Iranian-backed Hezbollah. Haniyeh was the main Hamas negotiator in the cease-fire talks.<\/p>\n
Since then, the United States has reiterated its pledge to defend Israel and substantially reinforced its air and naval assets in the region, including the Middle East deployment early Thursday of Air Force F-22 Raptors.<\/p>\n
A senior administration official who briefed reporters on the new cease-fire initiative said it was \u201cnot tied to the larger picture\u201d of the Iranian threat. \u201cThis is about \u2018we need to get this deal done.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
But \u201cif it influences them,\u201d the official said of Iran, \u201cthat\u2019s fine. I would say, if they launch a major war in the Middle East, with some massive attack on Israel \u2014 which they\u2019re threatening \u2014 that\u2019s obviously going to significantly jeopardize any hope of getting a cease-fire in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n
The last round of indirect talks mediated by the three governments ended nearly two weeks ago in Rome, when Israel presented new demands to the framework that Biden made public on May 31. Administration officials from Biden on down were reportedly furious at Netanyahu\u2019s last-minute ultimatum, as were senior Israeli military and political leaders.<\/p>\n
The three-leader statement expressed the same sense of urgency, in nearly the same words, that the administration has used over the past few months as hopes rose and fell that a cease-fire agreement was near. Both the statement and the official briefing implied that it was an ultimatum.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs mediators, if necessary, we are prepared to present a final bridging proposal that resolves the remaining implementation issues in a manner that meets the expectations of all parties,\u201d the statement said. The senior official provided no details about how a \u201cfinal\u201d proposal by the mediators would be enforced.<\/p>\n
Describing the genesis of the statement, the senior official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under rules set by the White House, said that it began with a call Monday between Biden and King Abdullah II of Jordan that included Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. military leaders regarding the defense of Israel in the event of an attack on Israel \u201cfrom Iran or Hezbollah or anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then on Tuesday, the president had \u2026 in-depth discussions\u201d with Tamim and Sisi that \u201creally delved into the hostage process. And out of that came the very constructive proposal to issue a joint statement.\u201d Israel was \u201creceptive,\u201d the official said, and \u201cboth Qatar and Egypt believe this would be very useful as they\u2019re working on the Hamas side.\u201d<\/p>\n
Biden met with his national security team in the Oval Office on Thursday to \u201creview our military deployments, which are ongoing and quite significant and substantial,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n
At the same time, \u201cwe\u2019ve been in fairly in-depth discussions with the Israelis \u2026 and we do think there\u2019s a way forward here,\u201d the official said. \u201cI would just emphasize it\u2019s incumbent upon not just the Israeli side, but also the Hamas side.\u201d<\/p>\n
The official said: \u201cWe think the bulk of the work has been done and the deal is really there. And with some force of will, and sitting down to hash it out,\u201d it is possible to reach an agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth sides have positions on about four or five issues \u2026 and if you just look at them, they might be unbridgeable,\u201d the official added.<\/p>\n
But \u201cthere needs to be a way forward here. We have lives on the line, particularly the hostages\u2019,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n
An earlier version of this article incorrectly said that April 15 is the proposed date for the cease-fire negotiations. It is Aug. 15. The article has been corrected.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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