ALL ISRAEL NEWS
U.S. President Joe Biden urged the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, to increase the pressure on Hamas to accept the comprehensive plan to end the war that Biden presented on Friday.
In a phone call between the two leaders on Monday, Biden assured the emir that Israel was ready to move ahead under the terms he presented while noting that Hamas was “now the only obstacle to a complete ceasefire and relief for the people of Gaza,” according to a readout released by the White House.
Biden “urged Amir Tamim to use all appropriate measures to secure Hamas’ acceptance of the deal,” the statement read.
Israel has now offered a roadmap to an enduring ceasefire – and the release of all the hostages.
Yesterday, this proposal was transmitted by Qatar to Hamas.
Today, I want to lay out its terms for the world. pic.twitter.com/0cdypBP9wb
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 31, 2024
In a televised speech last Friday, the president presented an Israeli proposal that was sent to Hamas and would include three phases of 42 days starting with a ceasefire, which Israel had so far rejected.
Qatari and Egyptian mediators said Hamas sent “positive signals” after the speech but hasn’t yet officially agreed to resume the deadlocked negotiations.
Despite reports that Qatar was considering expelling Hamas leaders from its capital Doha, the Gulf State so far doesn’t seem to have increased the pressure on Hamas to come to an agreement.
“From the beginning of the war, Qatar presented itself as an effective mediator, and it continues, through all the changes, to preserve this narrative,” Ariel Admoni, an Israeli expert on Qatar, told ALL ISRAEL NEWS.
“This time it has an additional interest in bringing results because it will prove its relevance to the question of the ‘day after’ which, at least in terms of Washington, is taking shape.”
“However, due to their support for Hamas, if there has been any Qatari pressure on Hamas so far, it has mostly been done behind closed doors and by threats of deportation that were not imminent. So far we have not seen a drastic change in attitude, probably out of the belief that Hamas will stay on the day after, and therefore, it pays for Doha to continue to host and maintain ties with it,” Admoni explained.
While Hamas’ leadership in exile, mainly based in Doha, is interested in a diplomatic solution to the war to ensure their control over Gaza, the local leadership under Yahya Sinwar is increasingly confident of its ability to last out the war, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
Sinwar told mediators he is in “no hurry” to end the war, according to the report, as he prefers to prolong the fighting and thus deepen Israel’s isolation on the world stage while strengthening support for the Palestinian cause.
On the Israeli side, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately declared that “The notion that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before [its] conditions are fulfilled is a non-starter.” On Monday, he said in the Knesset that there were “gaps” between Biden’s plan and the Israeli proposal.
White House spokesman John Kirby in response assured reporters that “this is an Israeli proposal and the president characterized it accurately.” Netanyahu is under domestic pressure, as two right-wing ministers threatened to leave the coalition in case the deal was implemented, which would bring down the government.
International reactions to Biden’s speech were overwhelmingly positive, with the leaders of the G7 countries releasing a statement on Monday endorsing the deal.
