WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday sent letters to the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, urging them to push Hamas to reach a deal to free hostages held by Israel, as stated by a senior administration official, one day after Biden urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to intensify efforts to achieve a cease-fire in the six-month conflict in Gaza.
The official, who spoke anonymously, said Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, will meet with family members of some of the estimated 100 hostages still in Gaza on Monday.
The letters to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, are part of Biden's strategy while CIA Director William Burns is in Cairo for talks about the hostage crisis this weekend.
David Barnea, the head of Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, and negotiators from Egypt and Qatar are expected to participate. The talks with Hamas are indirect, with proposals conveyed through third parties to Hamas leaders sheltering in tunnels beneath Gaza.
White House officials say that arranging a pause in the conflict between Israel and Hamas to enable the exchange of hostages in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israel is the only way to implement a temporary cease-fire and improve the flow of essential humanitarian aid into the region. White House official says Biden stressed the importance of securing the release of hostages, including American citizens, in his conversation with Netanyahu, and discussed the need to empower Israeli negotiators to reach a deal, according to the official. The first phase of the proposed deal would secure the release of women and elderly, sick and wounded hostages. White House national security spokesman John Kirby stated earlier on Friday that Biden emphasized the need to conclude a hostage deal during the Thursday conversation with Netanyahu, which mainly focused on Israeli airstrikes that killed seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen.
Kirby expressed concern about the abhorrent conditions the hostages are enduring and their need to be reunited with their families after six months of captivity.
Biden had previously shown hope for a temporary cease-fire and a hostage deal before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but an agreement never materialized.
The White House announced in a statement Thursday after Biden's call with Netanyahu that the U.S. president stressed the urgency of reaching an “immediate cease-fire” in return for hostages and urged Israel to reach such an agreement “without delay.”
White House officials concede that Biden has become increasingly frustrated with Israel’s conduct of the prolonged conflict, which has resulted in the deaths of over 33,000 Palestinians.
The conflict in Gaza began when
Hamas invaded southern Israel
, resulting in around 1,200 deaths, mostly civilians, and approximately 250 hostages. The U.S., Canada, and EU have all designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. Israeli military operationin Gaza, experts say, is one of the deadliest and most damaging in recent history. Within two months, researchers say, the offensive has caused more destruction than
The the destruction of Syria’s Aleppo between 2012 and 2016, Ukraine’s Mariupol or, proportionally, the Allied bombing of Germany in World War II. It has caused more civilian deaths than the U.S.-led coalition did in its three-year campaign against the Islamic State The White House has continued its support for Israel despite increasing domestic and international concern with Israel’s conduct of the war, and has repeatedly stated that a temporary cease-fire could have occurred if Hamas had agreed to release the sick, the wounded, the elderly, and young women. But the pressure on Biden has only increased since the recent airstrikes that killed the World Central Kitchen workers. group.
The Israeli government admitted to “mistakes” and announced some disciplinary actions against officers involved in ordering the strikes. Israel also approved a series of measures aimed at increasing the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, including the reopening of a key crossing that was destroyed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that the World Central Kitchen incident is part of a larger issue with how the Israeli military is conducting the war. Nearly 200 humanitarian aid workers have been killed since the start of the conflict.
“But the fundamental issue is not who made the mistakes, it is the military strategy and procedures in place that allow for those mistakes to occur repeatedly,” he said. “Addressing those failures requires independent investigations and meaningful and measurable change on the ground.”
The letters to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Qatar’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, come as Biden has sent CIA Director William Burns to Cairo for discussions this weekend about the hostage crisis.
“But the essential problem is not who made the mistakes, it is the military strategy and procedures in place that allow for those mistakes to multiply time and time again,” he said. “Fixing those failures requires independent investigations and meaningful and measurable change on the ground.”
