By Janet Ekstract, NEW YORK – Gaza hostage negotiations are set to take place in the resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt on Sunday, October 5, according to Thomas Warrick of the Atlantic Council who spoke to Al Jazeera news on Saturday evening, October 4. Warrick who is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism Policy laid out the scenario that he said will play out in Sharm El-Sheikh. Warrick said that “Hamas will be told to lay down their weapons,’ in order to go through with the peace proposal from U.S. President Donald Trump. Warrick also told Al Jazeera that former UK Prime Minister “Tony Blair’s people are working on a plan that will put Gaza under the control of Palestinians not affiliated with Hamas.” Warrick added that Hamas’s disarmament is crucial to Trump and said Trump will not allow Hamas to retake power in the region.
Meanwhile, Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are on their way to the negotiations as well as an Israeli delegation and Hamas officials. In a live, televised address from West Jerusalem on Saturday night, October 4, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that he had directed an Israeli delegation to fly to Egypt for the negotiations while Egypt confirmed that it will be hosting the three delegations from the U.S., Israel and Hamas. Israelis continue to protest, reiterating that Netanayhu has been the obstacle to peace and urging him to follow through with Trump’s plan. Trump has made it clear that he wants this deal done without any further delays and had said in a televised press conference that Netanyahu had no choice but to accept the deal. According to journalistic sources from Al Jazeera, the families of Israeli hostages are cautiously optimistic that Trump’s plan could actually happen because they have no confidence in Netanyahu.
Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas echoed that sentiment when he spoke to Al Jazeera on Saturday night, October 4 about Netanyahu’s frame of mind on Trump’s proposal. Pinkas said he thinks Netanyahu will “use every opportunity to keep the war going” because “he’s hoping Hamas will put conditions” on Trump’s proposal. As Pinkas remarked: “He’s relying on Hamas not living up to their end of the bargain,” adding “Nothing Netanyahu says is binding.” As the Israeli diplomat told Al Jazeera, Netanyahu “says one thing and does another” further stating that “He can’t lie to everyone all the time” anymore. Pinkas added that Netanyahu is afraid of the upcoming Israeli elections in three months and that despite pressure from Israelis protesting – the only pressure Netanyahu understands comes from the White House. The question now, Pinkas explained is whether or not Trump can keep his same level of engagement on getting a peace deal and a hostage release. The endgame, Pinkas warned is that “Netanyahu could procrastinate, this could end up a hostage/prisoner deal where nothing happens.”
