An inside story of intense negotiations of Israel-Hamas ceasefire

ANKARA: The much-needed ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian factions is expected to bring brief relief to the besieged territory of Gaza, which has been ravaged by death and destruction since 7 October, 2023.

This temporary ceasefire, which has been endorsed by all parties involved, is intended to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and a limited exchange of prisoners, and was engineered by Qatar’s intervention to pause the conflict in Gaza for four days.

Under the ceasefire, hostilities will be suspended and Israeli airstrikes, Palestinian rocket fire and street confrontations in Gaza are expected to cease.

The six-page agreement includes specific conditions that include the cessation of Israeli military operations and a ban on Israeli aircraft over the southern Gaza Strip, as well as restricted air traffic in the northern region.

Several sources indicate that the confidential negotiations following the intervention of US President Joe Biden were led by a “cell” of representatives from Qatar, the USA and Israel.

On the American side, CIA chief William Burns, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, White House Middle East Envoy Brett McGurk and Biden’s assistant Josh Geltzer were involved in the negotiations. Mossad chief David Barnea led the talks on the Israeli side with the support of the Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and the Chairman of the National Security Council Tzachi Hanegbi.

The Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, was himself part of the “cell”. Egypt also played a crucial role in “filling the gaps” and was led by intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, the sources said.

Barnea held several talks with Burns, and Biden spoke with Netanyahu four times between 20 and 25 October.

But before this cell could proceed, Hamas was asked to demonstrate the trial release of hostages, which led to the release of Judith and Natalie Raanan, boosting confidence in Qatar’s mediation abilities.

Subsequent negotiations led to the release of further hostages, reflecting the ongoing cooperation.

Israeli ground ops posed challenge

However, challenges arose when Israel did not agree to postpone a ground operation as there was insufficient evidence of the well-being of most of the hostages.

The agreement provides for the gradual release of 50 abducted women and children in return for a temporary ceasefire, with the prospect of additional relief if more hostages are released.

Israel has agreed to release 150 Palestinian prisoners, mainly minors, from its jails, who are on a list of 300 underage and female terror convicts, none of whom have been convicted of murder.

However, the agreement does not yet include all hostages, as further releases are planned within the structure of the agreement.

Musa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas leader, said fighting between Israel and Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip would cease.

“This will probably mean that there will be no Israeli air strikes, no Palestinian rockets and no street battles in Gaza,” he said.

According to Hamas, all “military actions by the occupation army in the entire Gaza Strip” will cease for the duration of the ceasefire.

In addition, no Israeli military aircraft will fly over the southern Gaza Strip for four days, while in the north flights will only be suspended between 10am and 4pm each day.

On October 25, a draft agreement was discussed between McGurk and the Qatari Prime Minister, where the two discussed for the first time the idea of a phased release of abducted women and children in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas later informed Qatar that it could guarantee the release of 50 hostages, but refused to give details of the hostages’ identities.

It eventually provided information on 10 hostages, but this was not enough for the US, the government official said.

According to the Israeli newspaper Times of Israel, the Israeli ground offensive on October 27 had complicated the negotiations, but Burns managed to persuade the Qatari prime minister and Barnea to continue the talks.

Biden steps in once again

Biden’s direct phone call with Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, which was the first since the outbreak of the war, also helped to ensure that the agreement did not collapse due to the Israeli ground offensive.

During a telephone conversation between Biden and Netanyahu on November 14 it was agreed to move forward with this agreement,” the Israeli newspaper reported, citing a Biden administration official. Both the leaders talked 13 times over the past one month.

McGurk met with Netanyahu in Israel the next day, and the prime minister asked Biden to press the emir of Qatar again to finalise the terms of the deal. But just as the talks appeared to be nearing the finish line, “communications broke down” and Hamas severed contact with the Qatari and Egyptian mediators, the official said.

Hamas called off talks over the Israeli army’s incursion into the Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Israel continued its operations around Shifa and argued that Hamas was only prepared to release hostages if it was under considerable pressure.

On November 17, talks resumed and Biden called the Emir of Qatar again, urging him to seal the agreement.

The next day, McGurk met with the Qatari Prime Minister in Doha to discuss elements of the deal. Qatar received final comments from Hamas, and Burns was brought in to discuss the six-page agreement, which “includes implementation details for both sides so that nothing is left to chance,” the government official told the newspaper.

McGurk had another meeting in Cairo on November 19 with Egyptian intelligence chief Kamel, who helped fill in some remaining gaps before the agreement was forwarded to Israel for approval.

The agreement provides for the gradual release of 50 abducted women and children in return for a four-day ceasefire and offers additional days of respite if Hamas releases more hostages.

There is an “expectation of further releases… and a clear goal to bring all hostages home to their families,” said the administration official.

Deal to allow humanitarian aid

In addition to the four-day “complete cessation of military operations”, the administration official as quoted by Israeli newspaper expressed hope that there will be a similar cessation of hostilities on Israel’s northern border, where there have been repeated exchanges of fire between the IDF and the terror group Hezbollah.

According to the deal, humanitarian aid will amount to at least 200 lorries per day and will include large quantities of fuel. The administration official expressed confidence, however, that Hamas will not be able to “supply itself from the outside during this phase” due to the “rigid inspection mechanism for everything that enters the Gaza Strip.”

Among the hostages to be released are three Americans, including three-year-old Avigail Mor Idan, — whose parents were murdered in front of her during the Hamas massacre, — and two other dual US-Israeli citizens. They are among the 10 US citizens who are still missing.

The government representative acknowledged that the male hostages, Israeli soldiers and foreign nationals will not be released in the first four days of the ceasefire, but said the agreement is structured so that they can be released after that.