Mossad Chief David Barnea wants to leverage the IDF’s success against Hezbollah in the North to pressure Hamas into accepting a hostage deal and has spoken with the United States about that possibility, according to a security source.
“He presented to the Americans the idea of connecting the two fronts,” the source said, explaining that a conversation had taken place with CIA Director William Burns. He has been one of the leading Biden administration officials involved in efforts to secure the release of the remaining 101 captives.
The proposal is only at the initial discussion stage and no concrete action has been taken, the source explained. Barnea has been the lead Israeli figure in the talks to free the hostages, including efforts to finalize a three-part deal first put on the table by the US on May 31. Qatar and Egypt have been the main mediators for those talks with the help of the US.
Work toward a hostage deal
Work on the May 31 ceasefire proposal has faltered since Hamas executed six hostages in August, including US-Israeli captive Hersh Goldberg-Polin, with the US accusing the terror group of stonewalling.
Barnea, however, wants to seize what could be a new opportunity to advance a deal in light of the IDF’s successes in recent weeks against the Iranian proxy group Hezbollah, including the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Barnea wants to link any Hezbollah interest in a ceasefire with Israel so that it could be contingent on the release of the hostages in Gaza.
His efforts were first reported by Channel 12 and then confirmed by The Jerusalem Post via a security source.“After the achievements and the strike that we did very efficiently” against Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and given that “the Iranians and Hezbollah are asking” for an end to the hostilities, “we can not promote a ceasefire without the whole package, which means a hostage deal in Gaza,” the security source said.
The US had initially hoped that a hostage and ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel in Gaza would also create conditions for an agreement to end hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. Hezbollah had until recently insisted that it would only halt its fire against Israel when a Gaza ceasefire was in place.
In the absence of a Gaza hostage deal, there is a push to separate the two fronts and push solely for a Hezbollah ceasefire. Recently, however, there has been a push to reconnect them by using Hezbollah and Iran to push Hamas to make a deal.
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Thani hosted Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Thursday. In Lebanon the Parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, who has supported ceasefire efforts with Israel, met Qatar Ambassador Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani.
“There is a real opportunity to implement real pressure from Iran and Hezbollah upon [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar,” the source stated.
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum welcomed reports about Barnea’s initiative. Such a step “makes it clear to Iran and Hezbollah that a ceasefire is only possible if a deal is signed for the release of all the hostages,” both the living and the dead, the forum said.
Hezbollah has recently said publicly it is interested in a ceasefire, but there has been no public advancement of the matter, as both parties have continued their exchange of fire.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller speculated on Wednesday during a conversation with reporters that Sinwar may be refraining from engaging in Gaza hostage talks out of a belief that a regional war is on the horizon.
“Sinwar has been unwilling to engage in any meaningful way in the ceasefire talks,” Miller said.
“I think it is probably reasonable to conclude he’s watching what’s happening in the North. He’s watching Iran’s attacks against Israel, and looking and thinking maybe he’s about to get what he’s always wanted, which is a full-scale regional war,” Miller said.
He speculated that the specter of this war “may have changed his [Sinwar’s] calculation, but either way, he ought to return to the talks because it is manifestly in the interest of the Palestinian people to get to a ceasefire in Gaza.”