The White House says Israel-Hamas cease-fire talks are “close,” amid fears of a widening Middle East war following high-profile assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
Israel launched a rare airstrike on Lebanon’s capital of Beirut on July 30, killing Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, a close advisor to Hezbollah’s secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah. A day later, the longtime chairman of Hamas’ political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated at his guesthouse in Tehran — Iran blames Israel — hours after attending the inauguration of incoming Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian.
Haniyeh was Hamas’ lead negotiator in cease-fire negotiations with Israel, the United States and mediating countries Qatar and Egypt. His negotiation role seems to have fallen to Yahya Sinwar, who is now the leader of Hamas’ political wing and allegedly masterminded Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. Sinwar is believed to be in hiding in Gaza’s underground tunnels.
“We are as close as we think we have ever been,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Wednesday, referencing the cease-fire talks. “The gaps are narrow enough that they can be closed. What we’re talking about here is recognizing the fact that we’ve come an awful long way.”
However, longtime former Israeli negotiator Gershon Baskin told CBS News in Jerusalem, “I have no idea where it’s coming from.”
“Seems detached from reality but maybe they know something that we don’t,” he said.
On whether the White House’s comment could be an attempt at applying public pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu to agree to a deal, Baskin said, “could be, behind the scenes the Americans are pushing hard,” but added, “I don’t think Netanyahu cares. He’s against Biden.”
U.S.-Israel ties have frayed this year with Israel’s continued military campaign in Gaza. Nearly 40,000 people have been killed in the enclave since Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu again spoke unwaveringly of military action, while visiting a military base for drafting soldiers.
“We are moving forward to victory,” he told recruits. “We are prepared for both defense and attack, we strike at our enemies and are also determined to defend ourselves.”
Days earlier, Netanyahu said Israel is already in a “multi-front war.”
“There is likely not to be much progress (on a cease-fire) unless Netanyahu changes his course,” said Baskin “or unless, of course, they find and kill Sinwar.”
Israel considers Sinwar public enemy No. 1. Understood to be in his early 60s, he has had a long history of fighting Israel. In the late 1980s he became known as the “Butcher of Khan Younis” after killing a dozen people believed to be collaborating with Israel. He was sentenced to four life sentences and organized strikes in prison for better living conditions. In 2011, Netanyahu released him as part of a prisoner swap for a hostage Israeli solider. Sinwar then rose through Hamas’ ranks and in 2017 became the group’s head in Gaza.
Now, following Sinwar’s elevation to head of Hamas’ political wing following the death of Haniyeh, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has put public pressure on Sinwar, saying the power has now fallen to him to seal a cease-fire deal in the Israel-Hamas war.
