Also Read-Gaza ceasefire for 4 days, agreement between Israel and Hamas on release of 50 hostages: report
A secret attempt to free the hostages
The secretive effort to secure the release of the hostages involved a tense personal diplomatic engagement with US President Joe Biden, who held several emergency talks with Qatar’s emir and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in the weeks leading up to the deal. For this, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, CIA Director Bill Burns, National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan and his deputy John Finer and US Middle East Ambassador Brett McGurk held talks for several hours. Two officials involved in the effort provided a detailed description of the work, which led to an agreement that included the release of 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners during a four-day standoff.
Qatar, which has been involved in mediation since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, contacted the White House with sensitive information about the possibility of freeing the hostages, officials said. He talked about setting up a small team or cell to work individually on the issue with Israel. Sullivan then instructed McGurk and another National Security Council official, Josh Geltzer, to form a team. Officials said the work was done without informing other US agencies because Qatar and Israel demand extreme secrecy, so only a few people were aware of it.
Biden’s hard work is behind the mortgage agreement
McGurk, a veteran diplomat with deep experience in the Middle East, holds daily morning talks with Qatar’s PM, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani. He briefed Sullivan and kept Biden informed of the process daily. Biden got a sense of what the victims are going through after the Hamas attack when he held an emotional and lengthy meeting on October 13 with the families of all the Americans who were either taken hostage or their loved ones. Didn’t know anything.
A few days later, Joe Biden visited Tel Aviv on October 18 and spoke with PM Netanyahu. The official said the security of humanitarian aid as well as the release of hostages were central to his discussions with Netanyahu and his war cabinet. Five days later, on October 23, the White House secured the release of the American hostages, Natalie and Judith Rennon. McGurk, Sullivan, and Finer oversaw the detainees’ several-hour journey out of Gaza from Sullivan’s West Wing office.
There were constant talks to release the hostages
Officials said the release of the two Americans made it clear that repatriating the hostages was possible, giving Biden confidence that a small team lined up could get the job done. After which the work of freeing the hostages was started more quickly. Burns then began speaking regularly with Mossad director David Barnia. Officials said Biden, seeing an opportunity before him to free a large number of hostages, was the only way to secure a compromise and cease-fire in exchange for prisoners.
On October 24, as Israel prepared to launch ground attacks in Gaza, the US side received news that Hamas had agreed to a deal to release women and children if the attacks stopped. After which America talked with Israel to delay the ground attack. Israel then argued that there was no evidence that the hostages were alive, so the attack could not be delayed on this condition.
In the first phase, children and women will be freed
Biden then held three weeks of negotiations as proposals were exchanged regarding the possible release of the hostages. Hamsa was asked to provide a list of hostages, their identity information and guarantee their release. Officials said it was a long and cumbersome process and difficult to negotiate because messages had to be sent from Doha or Cairo to Gaza and back. The official said Biden had a previously unannounced phone call with Qatar’s prime minister early in the publication phase. Under the agreement now taking shape, the first phase will see the release of women and child hostages as well as the release of Palestinian prisoners by Israel.
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