A long-awaited Iranian attack on Israel to avenge the killings of senior terrorist leaders could be averted if Israel and Hamas can reach a long-awaited ceasefire deal in Gaza when talks resume later this week, US President Joe Biden said Tuesday.
The comments came hours after Iranian officials told Reuters that a promised retaliatory strike could be delayed to allow talks to progress, even though Hamas has indicated it will not participate in the negotiations and a member of the Israeli delegation expressed doubts about the viability of the talks unless Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu extends the team’s mandate.
Negotiations for a cease-fire and a hostage release deal are due to resume Thursday in Egypt or Qatar, with U.S. mediators touting the summit as what could be the last opportunity to free the hostages seized by Hamas on Oct. 7, end the 10-month war in Gaza and avoid the possibility of an all-out regional war involving Iran.
Visiting New Orleans for an appearance Tuesday, Biden was asked by reporters whether he expected Iran to forgo a retaliatory strike if a deal is reached.
“That’s what I expect,” the president replied.
But Biden also warned that reaching a ceasefire agreement was “getting harder,” while expressing his determination to ensure an end to hostilities.
“We’ll see what Iran does and what happens if they attack. But I’m not giving up,” Biden said.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks with reporters on Aug. 13, 2024, at Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The U.S. State Department said Tuesday it was working to ensure that Hamas representatives attend the upcoming negotiations.
US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said Doha had assured Washington that it would “work to ensure that Hamas is represented” in the upcoming negotiations.
The terror group issued a statement Monday saying it would not attend the meeting unless mediators persuade Israel to accept the updated proposal the terror group submitted in early July in response to the U.S.-backed plan.
Hamas has conceded to its long-standing demand that Israel commit to a permanent ceasefire. Israel’s response came in the form of a list of amended demands from Netanyahu, which Hamas later rejected.
Demonstrators protest against the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip, outside the Hakirya base in Tel Aviv, August 13, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
The location of Thursday’s summit has not yet been announced, but an Arab official told The Times of Israel that the meeting is currently expected to take place in Doha.
Despite speculation that Hamas might not participate, Patel said the United States “fully expects these negotiations to progress.”
As efforts to finalize the long-awaited deal continue, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One that White House Middle East official Brett McGurk will travel to Cairo and Doha in the coming days, while special envoy Amos Hochstein will travel to Lebanon to try to prevent further regional escalation.
After Iranian officials suggested earlier Tuesday that a successful hostage deal could prevent Iran from directly retaliating against Israel, Jean-Pierre said the United States believes that “reaching a cease-fire agreement is the best way to de-escalate the tensions that we are seeing.”
The United States has been engaged in intensive diplomatic efforts to dissuade Iran from launching an attack on Israel following the July 31 assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, for which it blamed Israel. Jerusalem has neither confirmed nor denied any involvement in the death.
White House Middle East and North Africa Coordinator Brett McGurk arrives at the U.S. Capitol on April 18, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images/AFP)
Hezbollah, a powerful Iranian-proxied terrorist group in Lebanon, also vowed revenge for the assassination of top Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr near Beirut the same day in a strike claimed by the Israeli military.
Faced with the heightened risk of a wider war in the Middle East, Iran has engaged in intense dialogue in recent days with Western countries and the United States on how to calibrate retaliation, three Iranian sources, all speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
Several reports in recent days have indicated that Israel believes Iran intends to attack before the resumption of negotiations on Thursday for a deal. These new comments seem to indicate that the attack would take place only after those negotiations, and only if they fail to produce what Iran considers sufficient results.
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in the village of Chihine, southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel, on August 13, 2024. (Kawnat Haju/AFP)
But one of the sources, a senior Iranian security official, said Iran and its allies, such as Hezbollah, would launch a direct attack if negotiations between Israel and Hamas failed or if they felt Israel was dragging out the talks. The sources did not say how long Iran would allow the negotiations to progress before acting.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office quickly announced last week that Israel would send its negotiators to the August 15 talks “to finalize the details of implementing the framework of the agreement,” after the United States, Qatar and Egypt issued a joint statement demanding that an agreement be reached and implemented without further delay.
A member of the negotiating team told Israel’s Channel 12 on Tuesday night that there was no reason to go to the talks if Netanyahu did not expand the team’s mandate.
Women protest outside the Prime Minister’s official residence in Jerusalem on August 13, 2024, to demand the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The parameters within which the Israeli team will conduct the negotiations have not yet been decided and will be set at a meeting with the prime minister later this week, the report said.
Earlier this month, the Israeli delegation warned Netanyahu that it would not be possible to reach an agreement with the new demands he made in late July.
The widely reported demands – which Netanyahu has insisted are not new additions – reportedly include a stipulation that IDF forces maintain control of the Philadelphia Corridor between Israel and Egypt, as well as additional restrictions on displaced people allowed to return to northern Gaza once the fighting stops.
Families and supporters of Israelis held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip gather to celebrate the Tisha B’Av fast at the Hostages’ Square in Tel Aviv, August 12, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Netanyahu’s office has repeatedly denied the reports, saying the prime minister did not change any part of the May 27 proposal approved by the United States, which has been under negotiation for several months. According to his office, he was simply providing “essential clarifications” to implement the original framework.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Tuesday night that Israel was closely monitoring its enemies in anticipation of a potential attack.
“I am aware of the tensions and the heavy burden on Israeli citizens. We are following what is happening in Beirut, Tehran and elsewhere,” Gallant said during a visit to an Israeli military intelligence base in northern Israel.
“We are engaged both in eliminating threats and in preparing for all possibilities, so that we can attack wherever we decide,” he added, according to comments provided by his office.
IDF soldiers operate in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on August 13, 2024. (IDF)
Mehr news agency later reported that Iran was holding a military exercise in the north of the country, but did not specify whether it was linked to the country’s plans to strike Israel.
Some expected an attack could come Monday night or Tuesday, when Jewish communities in Israel and around the world commemorate the 9th of Av, considered a day of mourning and calamity in the Jewish calendar.
While no major attacks were carried out during the day, Hamas terrorists attempted to fire two rockets at Tel Aviv for the first time in months, and on Tuesday night, some 40 rockets were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel. No injuries were reported.
Agencies contributed to this report.
