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Ceasefire talks heading towards total collapse, say US and Israeli officials

‘We don’t know if Sinwar wants this deal’ – After optimism on prospects of a breakthrough in talks, US and Israeli officials fret that ceasefire negotiations are on the verge of collapse, with no alternative diplomatic route open.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

The prospects of a deal between Israel and the Hamas terror organization to establish a ceasefire in Gaza and return Israeli hostages held there look increasingly dim, four American and Israeli officials said, warning that negotiations between the two sides are on the verge of collapse.

Despite public statements from the U.S. expressing optimism following last Thursday’s summit in Doha, Qatar, and a similar statement from Israel voicing “guarded optimism,” two U.S. and two Israeli officials told Politico in a report published Tuesday that the talks brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the U.S. are faltering and appear doomed to fail.

While some Biden administration officials remain optimism, the report said, many American officials now worry that Hamas is not truly interested in reaching an agreement and that a deal cannot be reached.

“We don’t know if Sinwar wants this deal,” one official said. “But if we don’t get the deal there’s a chance that Iran attacks and this escalates into a full blown confrontation.”

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Brett McGurk, the National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, is set to lead an American delegation to Egypt in a bid to keep the talks on track, though officials cited in Tuesday’s report fret that the effort may be a lost cause.

If the current hostage deal efforts fail, the officials said, there is no obvious alternative diplomatic track available for achieving a ceasefire and release of Israeli captives held in Gaza.

In such a scenario, one U.S. official warned, the likelihood of an Iranian attack on Israel – and a major regional conflagration – rises significantly.

“That’s obviously the biggest concern here and something we’ve been trying to avoid since Oct. 7. But the chances of that happening increase significantly if Hamas doesn’t agree to this proposal.”