The U.S. military is bracing for the potential collapse of ceasefire talks between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas” amid concerns that a breakdown could escalate the war into a widespread regional conflict, according to the Financial Times on Friday, September 6, 2024.
General C.Q. Brown, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, expressed his concern to Financial Times on Thursday about the impact of failed talks on regional tensions.
Brown, who was en route to a meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group in Germany, said he is evaluating how regional actors might respond if the negotiations fail. He warned that such a failure could increase military activities and potentially widen the conflict. Brown emphasized that his focus remains on preventing the expansion of the war and safeguarding U.S. forces.
According to the newspaper, President Joe Biden’s administration views the ceasefire negotiations as key to reducing tensions in the region and avoiding a full-scale regional war.
Stalled Negotiations
Brown’s comments come as negotiations remain stalled. A dispute persists between Israel and Hamas over the details surrounding the release of prisoners on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides. Additionally, Tel Aviv insists on maintaining its forces in a strip of land along Gaza’s border with Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor.
In a statement on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the U.S. will engage with the concerned parties “in the coming days” with ideas on how to resolve the remaining issues, adding, “The final decision will be up to the involved parties.”
Despite U.S. attempts to maintain optimism, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly downplayed the progress of the negotiations, telling Fox News that the deal “is not close.”
On the other hand, senior U.S. officials told the newspaper that the talks were 90% complete but acknowledged that significant hurdles remain unresolved. They dismissed criticism that they had been overly optimistic about the process.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday, “We’ve faced setbacks after setbacks, and more setbacks. There’s no doubt that we in the administration are frustrated that we have not yet been able to finalize this deal.”
Biden Administration’s Frustration
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby reiterated the administration’s frustration on Thursday, stating, “We’ve faced setbacks after setbacks, and more setbacks. There’s no doubt that we here in the administration are frustrated that we have not yet been able to finalize this deal.”
Earlier this week, President Biden expressed his frustration with Netanyahu’s role in the negotiations, saying he believed the Israeli Prime Minister wasn’t doing enough to push the deal forward. However, in recent days, Washington has shifted the blame for the stalled talks onto Hamas.
A senior U.S. official clarified that the death of six Israeli prisoners last week had “injected a sense of urgency into the process,” but it also “raised questions about Hamas’s willingness to strike any kind of deal.”
