Qatar idea, Biden’s last warning… Find out how Israel and Hamas reached a deal

What was the deal between Israel and Hamas?
First of all we know about the deal between Israel and Hamas. As per the ceasefire deal, Hamas has agreed to release 50 hostages. All these 50 people will be either children or women. In return, the Israeli government agreed to a 4-day ceasefire and the release of 150 Palestinian children and women.

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What is the role of the queue?
news agency Reuters According to the report, on October 7, the Palestinian organization Hamas launched more than 5,000 deadly rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel within minutes. Hamas fighters entered Israel and took 240 people hostage. Shortly after this, Gulf country Qatar came forward. He immediately urged the White House to create a team of advisers to help free the prisoners.

The work began a few days after the hostages were taken to Gaza. Several days of mediation between Qatar and Egypt and US President Joe Biden’s suggestion of a ‘prisoner exchange’ finally led to a deal.

Why is this deal so important?
The agreement between Israel and Hamas was not easy in the midst of the war in the Gaza Strip. The heads of the Israeli spy agency Mossad and the American agency CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) worked together day and night to carry out this agreement. The reputation of America was also at stake regarding this deal. So US President Joe Biden had to make repeated calls to several people, including the Emir of Qatar and Israel’s PM Netanyahu.

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Biden’s call worked
According to the report, Qatar was playing an important role in the deal, but it did not have as much leverage over Hamas. Hamas also threatened to end the talks midway. In return for the deal, Hamas demanded that Israeli forces cease operations at Al Shifa Hospital. Israel claims that this is a Hamas command center under the hospital. The Israeli army rejected Hamas’ demands. Once talks between the two began through Qatar, Joe Biden took time out of a summit with the Chinese president to call the Emir of Qatar. Biden clearly threatened – ‘Time is running out.’ After this threatening message from Biden, the Emir of Qatar assured that he will make all possible efforts to get this deal done.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, CIA Director Bill Burns, US National Security Advisor Jack Sullivan, his deputy John Finer, US Middle East Ambassador Brett McGurk were involved in this deal. Two officers involved in this effort have given the details of the work.

Qatar initiated this effort
Shortly after the Oct. 7 attack, Qatar approached the White House with sensitive information in a long-running mediation effort in the volatile region, officials said. Qatar appealed to the US to create a cell to work privately on the issue with the Israelis. US National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan instructed US Middle East Ambassador Brett McGurk and another National Security Council official, Josh Geltzer, to form the team. Officials said the work did not keep other US agencies in the loop. Because Qatar and Israel demanded great secrecy. In such a situation only a select few officials were aware of it.

Explainer: Due to secret negotiations, an agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas on the release of the hostages.

These people were included in the team
McGurk, a longtime diplomat in the Middle East, spoke daily with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman bin Jassim Al Thani. He also gave this report to US National Security Adviser Sullivan. At the same time, talking points with Joe Biden were also shared.

After the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, US President Biden realized the situation on the ground on October 13. He spent a long time with American families who had some members taken hostage by Hamas fighters or not heard from after the attack.

A few days later, Joe Biden traveled to Tel Aviv for a meeting with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. This meeting was held on October 18. The official said Biden’s meeting with Netanyahu and his war cabinet was aimed at securing the release of hostages and providing humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The first two Americans were released
Five days after this meeting, on October 23, the White House team managed to free the two American hostages, Natalie and Judith Rennon. From outside the West Wing office, McGurk, Sullivan and Finer also tracked the detainees’ multi-hour journey through Gaza in real time.

Officials said the return of the two Americans proved that freeing the hostages was possible. It also convinced Joe Biden that Qatar could get the job done with a smaller team. Now the work of freeing more hostages began. When this happened, CEA Chief Burns began speaking regularly with Mossad Director David Burnia.

Officials said Joe Biden saw an opportunity to free a large number of hostages. He chose the only realistic way to ensure a cease-fire in the exchange of prisoners.

Israel was ready for the ground operation on October 24
On October 24, Israel was fully prepared for a ground operation in Gaza. During this time, the American side received news that Hamas had agreed to the terms of the agreement to release women and children. This means that Israel will have to stop or delay ground operations for the time being.

There was much debate between US officials and Israel as to whether or not the ground operation should be delayed. The Israelis argued that Hamas’s terms were not enough to delay the ground operation. Because there was no evidence that the hostages were alive. Hamas later claimed that they could not decide who was being held hostage until after the attack. However, the Americans and Israelis considered Hamas’s position untenable.

Biden remained engaged in negotiations for the next three weeks
After this, Joe Biden engaged in detailed negotiations for the next three weeks. Israel and Hamas sent proposals to each other via Qatar regarding the release of potential hostages. A condition imposed by Israel was that Hamas provide a list of its hostages, their identity information and guarantee their release. Officials said the process was long and cumbersome. Communication was difficult. Because anything was sent to Gaza and Israel via Doha or Cairo.

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Biden spoke to Qatar’s PM
Biden first spoke to Qatar’s prime minister on the phone. The official said that it was only after this that the phase of releasing the hostages began. Under the agreement, women and children will be released in the first phase. Israel will also release Palestinian prisoners.

The Israelis pressured Hamas to ensure that all women and children were released during this phase. The American side agreed to this. Qatar has also demanded proof of the survival of the women and children held hostage by Hamas.

Hamas refused to list the identities of the hostages.
Hamas said it could guarantee the release of 50 hostages in the first phase, but declined to list identification criteria. On November 9, CIA Chief Burns spoke with the Qatari leader and Mossad director Barnia in Doha about the hostage release process. The problem with this was that Hamas could not clearly identify which prisoners it was holding.

Biden had to call again
Three days later, Biden called the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. They asked the Emir of Qatar for clear identifying information on the 50 hostages, including their names, ages, races and nationalities. Without information there is no basis to proceed.

Shortly after Joe Biden’s call, Hamas shared information about 50 hostages. It was said that these 50 people would be released in the first phase of any deal. On November 14, Biden appealed to Netanyahu to accept the deal. Netanyahu agreed to this. Leaving the meeting, Netanyahu grabbed McGurk’s hand and said, “We need this deal,” one official said.

Communication stopped due to communication system failure
However, a breakdown in the communication system in Gaza halted the talks. When the communication system resumed, Biden flew to San Francisco to attend the Asia-Pacific Summit. “He called the emir of Qatar and said this is the last chance. Time is running out. To this the emir of Qatar said he would do everything possible to lock the deal,” the officials said.

On 18 November, McGurk met with the Prime Minister of Qatar in Doha. Burns was also summoned after speaking with the Mossad. In the meeting, the shortcomings in the direction of the deal were identified and removed.

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The deal is currently designed to free women and children in the first phase, but with the hope of future release and the goal of returning all hostages to their families.

Hamas accepted all the terms
On the morning of November 19, McGurk met with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamil in Cairo. News came from Hamas leaders in Gaza that they had accepted almost all the terms of the agreement reached in Doha the day before. Officials said the only issue remaining was to finalize the number of hostages in the first phase and to encourage the release of more than 50 prominent women and children.

After this, meetings and phone calls quickly followed. Eventually the deal was struck between Hamas and Israel.

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