(Bloomberg) -- Negotiators between Israel and Hamas will meet in the coming days, as they make a renewed effort to end the devastating conflict in Gaza, according to the US and Israel.
The US is exploring different options to restart stalled talks between the warring parties and secure the release of hostages held by the Palestinian militant group, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Qatar on Thursday.
Israel said the chief of its Mossad intelligence agency will meet with the main negotiators for the US, Qatar and Egypt in Qatar next week.
Hamas has shown no real interest in renewed talks. An official of the group, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly changed his position and is prolonging the war to keep his right-wing governing coalition together. The Israeli leader has denied that and says it’s Hamas that his shown no real willingness to end the war.
The war has raged for more than a year, since Hamas fighters raided southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage. Israel’s subsequent offensive on Gaza has killed more than 42,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there.
Qatar, Egypt and the US — the main interlocutors — were hopeful a deal was close about two months ago. They were working on an agreement for a phased truce and release of captives that they thought could wind down the war.
But the negotiations have made next to no progress since then, as Israel and Hamas blame each other for being inflexible.
Israel has in recent weeks stepped up its operations in Gaza, particularly in the north. Although perhaps half of Hamas’s 35,000 fighters have been killed in the past year — according to Israeli intelligence estimates — and most of its weapons destroyed, it was managed to regroup in some areas.
Last week, Israel dealt another blow to Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the US and many other countries, by killing its leader, Yahya Sinwar. It’s unclear who will now be the main negotiator for Hamas, which hasn’t named a new leader. Many of its most senior officials live in Qatar.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, speaking alongside Blinken, said Hamas’s negotiating position after Sinwar’s death is uncertain.
US President Joe Biden is seen as keen to make progress on cease-fire talks for both Gaza and Lebanon — were Israel is battling Hezbollah militants — before elections on Nov. 5, when his vice president, Kamala Harris, will face former President Donald Trump.
Yet Israel’s recent military gains against both Hamas and Hezbollah have left it determined to press on. Netanyahu and his ministers don’t want to offer their enemies any reprieve for now.
Blinken is traveling from Doha in Qatar to London, where he’s expected to meet other Arab foreign ministers on Friday and discuss the conflicts. He met Netanyahu in Israel on Tuesday and Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in Riyadh on Wednesday. It’s his 11th trip to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began, with the US trying to at least contain the conflicts, if not end them.
Lebanon Aid
Hezbollah, which like Hamas is backed by Iran and considered a terrorist group by the US, and Israel continue to exchange heavy fire. Israel’s military said Hezbollah fired about 135 missiles and rockets from Lebanon on Wednesday, though they caused little damage. Israeli strikes overnight killed seven people in the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek, according to Lebanon’s government.
The French Foreign Ministry said Thursday that an international conference it hosted raised $1 billion for Lebanon, including $800 million in humanitarian aid and $200 million to support Lebanon’s security forces. France’s share was 100 million euros ($108 million.)
Blinken, while in the Middle East, reiterated the US’s call for Israel not to retaliate against Iran for a missile attack earlier this month in a way that worsens hostilities. The US, Arab states and others fear that if Israel strikes Iran’s nuclear or oil-export facilities, it could trigger a full-scale regional war and push up energy prices.
--With assistance from Dana Khraiche, Fares Akram and Ania Nussbaum.
(Updates with Hamas official in fourth paragraph, French aid conference in penultimate paragraph)
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