Diplomatic leaders are expected to gather Thursday for another round of intense negotiations to secure a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, working under the threat of a wider war that would further devastate the Middle East.
One key group won’t be at the table: As of Wednesday, Hamas said it would not be taking part in the talks because it does not believe Israel has been negotiating in good faith.
“Going to new negotiations allows the occupation [Israel] to impose new conditions and employ the maze of negotiation to conduct more massacres,” senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has been the main obstacle to sealing a deal.
Two former ambassadors, a former special envoy and additional experts said the stakes could not be higher heading into Thursday’s talks, agreeing a ceasefire is the best way to extinguish tensions threatening to boil over in the Middle East. They say the United States, with its diplomatic and military influence over Israel, has a considerable role to play.
“I don’t think it’s up to Hamas or even its allies at this moment in time,” said Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group. “I think the one actor whose actions would be most consequential is the United States.”
Tensions running high after killings
Ceasefire talks are set to resume in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday, with mediators from the host nation, Egypt and the United States. Hamas’s absence does not mean progress won’t be made, as it maintains open communication channels with Egypt, and Hamas has its chief negotiator based in Doha.
“Hamas is committed to the proposal presented to it on July 2, which is based on the UN Security Council resolution and the [U.S. President Joe] Biden speech, and the movement is prepared to immediately begin discussion over a mechanism to implement it,” Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
David Satterfield, former U.S special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues, says current negotiations are more complicated than any conflict he’s seen in his 45 years on the file.
Tensions have been running higher in the Middle East after the killings of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran and of top Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut…
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