You can never eliminate Hamas, US warns Israel

The West is urging both sides to accept a deal that would prevent war between Iran and Israel, but Binyamin Netanyahu is sticking to his guns.

Both sides disagree over the terms of a ceasefire: Hamas wants a guarantee that it would permanently end the war, but Israel has said that any truce would be temporary. Picture: AFP

United States officials are growing increasingly frustrated with Binyamin Netanyahu’s demand for “total victory” in the war in Gaza, saying Hamas will never be entirely eliminated.

Talks to end the ten-month war resumed in Qatar yesterday (Thursday) as western powers urged both sides to agree to a deal that might prevent a wider conflict between Iran and Israel. The negotiations took place amid escalating tensions between Israel, Iran and its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.

As they got under way in Doha, the death toll from the war in Gaza passed 40,000, the Hamas-controlled health ministry said.

The US is pressuring both sides to accept a truce, which could forestall attacks by Iran and Hezbollah against Israel following the assassinations of the Lebanese militant group’s military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut and Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month.

Washington is also frustrated by what the Israeli prime minister says are the war’s objectives. US security officials warned that Israel would never completely destroy the group and that Israeli forces have achieved all they can militarily, with continued bombing only increasing the risk of further civilian casualties. “Israel has been able to disrupt Hamas, kill a number of their leaders and largely reduce the threat to Israel that existed before October 7,” General Joseph Votel, former head of US Central Command, told The New York Times. Hamas is now “a diminished” organisation, he added.

John Kirby, the spokesman for the US national security council, said the Hamas leadership had been “decimated”, with thousands of fighters killed. “From a military perspective, [the Israelis] have definitely achieved the vast majority of their objectives,” Kirby said.

The threat of a wider conflict has unnerved the region and prompted the US and Britain to urge their citizens to leave Lebanon. US warships and a submarine are going to the region.

Kirby said the Iranian threat to Israel remained but yesterday’s (Thursday’s) negotiations had got off to a promising start. “There remains a lot of work to do,” he said. He insisted, however, that the “remaining obstacles can be overcome ... We must bring this process to a close”.

Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to President Biden, visited the region this week to push for a truce and defuse the tensions between Israel, Iran and Hezbollah. He told a press conference in Beirut: “There’s no more valid excuses from any party for any further delay.”

Amos Hochstein, an adviser to President Biden, met Nabih Berri, speaker of the Lebanese parliament, in Beirut to push for a truce. Picture: AFP

The UK and other countries have joined the American efforts to resolve the war but no outcome is expected from negotiations, with both sides still in disagreement on several key points.

Hamas has called on the mediators to implement a bridging proposal - which it had already accepted and Israel had rejected - rather than enter new negotiations, accusing Israel of demanding new conditions. Israel has denied this, saying it was merely asking for clarifications on the proposal.

Hamas, which sparked the war in October by attacking Israel, killing more than 1,100 people and kidnapping more than 200, will wait to see what the Israeli negotiating team offers and then respond.

The main disagreement is about ending the war. Hamas wants a guarantee that a ceasefire would be permanent, while Israel has said that any truce would be temporary. Mediators say Hamas is not willing to give up the hostages it kidnapped in October.

The Times