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ARAB AND WORLD

Tue 14 Jan 2025 5:10 pm - Jerusalem Time

Trump envoy presses Netanyahu to advance Gaza ceasefire deal

President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has been pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hard to agree to compromises to advance a ceasefire in Gaza, media reports said Monday. Witkoff, a real estate developer, traveled to Israel from Qatar to meet with Netanyahu on Saturday. Witkoff’s pressure on Netanyahu has been credited with the progress in recent days of negotiations, with everyone now saying a deal is close.


According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Witkoff “forced Israel to accept a plan that Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected over the past half-year.” Netanyahu had been pushing for an agreement that included only a temporary ceasefire, but according to reports, the new plan would include a full Israeli withdrawal.


Another report from Haaretz on Sunday said that one of the main disagreements in the negotiations was that Israel did not want to commit to ending its genocidal war forever, suggesting that Israel had not agreed to everything.


Reuters reported on Monday that mediators had presented Israel and Hamas with a final draft of the agreement after a "breakthrough" in the talks and that officials would discuss it on Tuesday.


During the genocidal war in Gaza, the Biden administration refused to put any real pressure on Israel to agree to a deal, allowing Netanyahu to sabotage talks with Hamas. The United States has significant leverage over Israel because it provides a lot of military aid, which Israel needs to support military operations.


It is unclear how Witkoff pressured Netanyahu or whether he threatened to cut off military aid. It is also unclear whether the pressure was enough to get Netanyahu to actually agree to a deal, which will not be known until the agreement is signed.


While Netanyahu is under intense domestic pressure to reach a deal, some members of his coalition government are vehemently opposed, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.


Pro-Netanyahu Israeli media figures have expressed anger at the pressure from the incoming Trump administration. Israeli talk show host Yinon Magal pointed to Trump’s recent threats to Hamas that there would be “hell to pay” if the hostages were not released by the inauguration.


“He’s talking about hell,” Magal said, “and at the same time, he’s sending his envoy to sign a deal. It’s a deal that will be very difficult to effect. That’s the truth.”


Magal said the only hope was for Hamas to reject the deal. “One of the cabinet ministers told me we need to pray again that God will harden Pharaoh’s heart,” he said.


In a related matter, Axios revealed that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will present a plan on Tuesday to rebuild and govern Gaza after the war ends, according to three US officials.


The move comes as Blinken has just one week left in office, while intensive negotiations are underway to conclude a hostage exchange deal and a ceasefire in Gaza.


President-elect Donald Trump has said that Israel and Hamas are "very close" to a deal.


According to sources, the plan that Blinken is expected to present in his final speech as US Secretary of State at the Atlantic Council in Washington on Tuesday will be crucial to efforts to implement the second phase of the Gaza deal, which aims to reach a permanent ceasefire and end the war.


Blinken presented his plan for Gaza's security, governance and reconstruction after a ceasefire agreement was reached to several US allies.

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Trump envoy presses Netanyahu to advance Gaza ceasefire deal

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