Struggle for hostage deal before Trump’s swearing in

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Lerato Khumalo

The situation at a glance

Struggle for hostage deal before Trump’s swearing in

Updated 01/13/2025 – 04:35 amReading time: 4 minutes

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Republican duo: Donald Trump (l.) and JD Vance are looking forward to taking power on January 20th. (archive image) (Source: Evan Vucci/AP/dpa/dpa-bilder)

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International mediators are trying to bring about a ceasefire in the bloody Gaza war and the release of the Hamas hostages. Will there be a breakthrough in the last few days before Trump takes office?

A few days before Donald Trump’s inauguration in the USA, the deputy of the future president of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas threatened serious consequences. If the Islamists refuse to make a deal with Israel and do not release all the hostages they hold before Trump’s swearing in on January 20th, the next US administration will take drastic steps, promised Trump’s designated deputy JD Vance. Both he and the national security advisor to the outgoing US President Joe Biden were hopeful that a breakthrough could be achieved this week.

Trump reiterated last week that “all hell will break loose” in the Middle East if the hostages aren’t back home by the time he takes office, “and that won’t be good for Hamas and, frankly, it won’t be good for anyone be good”.

Vance was now asked by the conservative US television station Fox News what exactly Trump meant by that. His answer: “That means enabling the Israelis to eliminate the last battalions of Hamas and its leadership. It means very aggressive sanctions and financial penalties for all those who support terrorist organizations in the Middle East. It means abandoning American ones “To really get the leadership done” – just like Trump did in his first term in office from 2017 to 2021.

According to Vance, the Trump camp is “hopeful that a deal will be done at the very end of Biden’s administration, perhaps on the last or second to last day.” Whatever this deal looks like, it will be because “people are terribly afraid that it will (otherwise) have consequences for Hamas,” says the Republican.

Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan expressed cautious optimism over the weekend about a possible deal for a ceasefire and hostage release. “We are very, very close,” Sullivan told CNN. “We remain committed to using every day we are in office to get this thing done.” But it could also be that Hamas in particular will not move in the end, “as has happened so many times” – and no agreement will be reached before the change of power on January 20th.

Trump’s security adviser Mike Waltz told ABC News that a quick agreement would be in the interests of the Palestinian organization. Any deal after Trump takes office will only be worse for the now “completely isolated” Hamas than what is currently on the table.

Biden speaks with Netanyahu – negotiations in Doha

Outgoing US President Biden appears determined to reach a ceasefire in the devastating Gaza war and a deal to release the Hamas hostages before the end of his term in office. In a conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu, he also urged the Israeli prime minister to increase humanitarian aid, the White House said. According to his office, Netanyahu mentioned “progress” in negotiations for the release of the hostages and informed Biden about the mandate he gave his negotiators for their talks in Qatar and a possible deal with Hamas.

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Since Israel and Hamas do not negotiate directly with each other as a matter of principle, mediation talks are underway in Qatar’s capital Doha. (Archive image) (Source: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa/dpa-bilder)

A high-ranking Israeli delegation had previously arrived in the Qatari capital Doha for new talks. It was reported from negotiating circles that the head of the Israeli foreign secret service Mossad, David Barnea, and the head of the Shin Bet domestic secret service, Ronen Bar, would once again be there.

The indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, in which Qatar, Egypt and the USA are also mediating, are primarily about a ceasefire and an exchange of Palestinian prisoners for the Hamas hostages who continue to be held captive in the Gaza Strip.

The Hostage Families Forum spoke of a “historic opportunity” to secure the release of the abductees. At the weekend, thousands of Israelis demonstrated again for an end to the war and the release of the hostages. However, critics accuse Netanyahu of having no interest in a deal with Hamas because his ultra-right coalition partners insist on the complete destruction of the Islamist terrorist organization – and his political survival depends on them.