Israel-Hamas Hostage Deal Talks on Hold After Haniyeh Assassination

Hostage deal talks between Israel and Hamas are on hold following the Israeli assassination of Hamas’s political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, The Times of Israel reported Monday.

Haniyeh was the top Hamas official outside of Gaza, putting him in charge of the negotiations with Israel. He was a proponent of reaching a deal with Israel, and his assassination is seen as an effort by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ensure that won’t happen.

Israeli officials told the Times that hostage deal talks would not restart until after Iran launches an attack on Israel as a reprisal for killing Haniyeh in Tehran. Hamas also needs to name a replacement for Haniyeh for talks to resume.

The report said the US, Qatar, and Egypt understand that talks will become much more difficult in the wake of the killing of Haniyeh. The situation with Iran could also escalate into a full-blown regional war involving the US, which would make a hostage deal even less likely.

In the weeks leading up to Haniyeh’s assassination, it was widely acknowledged that Netanyahu was sabotaging the chances of a hostage and ceasefire deal by making new demands after Hamas made concessions.

Over the weekend, Haaretz reported that President Biden realized Netanyahu was lying to him about wanting a hostage deal. But the US has still not publicly criticized Netanyahu and is vowing to defend Israel from any Iranian reprisal attack.