Israel-Hamas Negotiations: Sullivan’s Insights on Ceasefire and Hostage Exchange

TFD – Delve into the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas regarding a potential ceasefire and hostage exchange. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan provides key insights into the discussions, shedding light on the complexities of the situation.

The general terms of a possible agreement to free Hamas hostages in return for a short-term ceasefire in Gaza have been reached, according to a “understanding” reached by negotiators, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CNN on Sunday.

On Friday in Paris, negotiators from Egypt and Qatar, together with CIA director Bill Burns, were joined in discussions by a delegation from Israel that included Mossad director David Barnea. Israel and Hamas do not communicate directly with one another; instead, Qatar and Egypt act as a middleman between them.

Crucially, Hamas has not yet agreed to any potential framework, and as negotiations continue to iron out the specifics, any final agreement could still be days away at most.

“The delegates of Egypt, Qatar, the United States, and Israel convened in Paris and reached a consensus over the fundamental parameters of a hostage exchange for a provisional cease-fire. Sullivan said to CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union,” “I’m not going to get into the intricacies of it because we’re still working out the facts.

“Qatar and Egypt will need to have indirect talks with Hamas because in the end, they have to agree to release the hostages,” he continued. That task is currently in progress. And we’re hoping that over the next few days, we can move toward a real, comprehensive agreement on this matter. However, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Sullivan declined to comment when Bash asked how optimistic he was about a possible agreement, saying, “There’s been a lot of to’ing and fro’ing.” I therefore refuse to forecast anything or assign a percentage of chance to it.

Sullivan stated that he had “some concerns” about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s newly announced blueprint for a post-war Gaza, based on what he has read in the press, but he expects to be briefed by his Israeli counterparts later on Sunday.

“I have some concerns based on what I’ve seen in the reporting,” he said to CNN.

“I’m talking to my Israeli counterparts later today to hear more because they’ve gone out in the press without coming to us to talk through all of this,” Sullivan added later in an interview on Fox News Sunday. I’ll wait and see, then.