Brett McGurk: Hamas was and is responsible for hostage deal delays

Brett McGurk, President Biden's assistant on Middle East Affairs and the man who helped shape the current hostage deal, published an opinion piece in the Washington Post on Friday explaining how it was Hamas who was and is to blame in delays in the hostage deal.

In a start admission at the beginning of the article, McGurk said that "...throughout the ceasefire negotiations, Hamas consistently held back on a commitment to release hostages and aimed to ensure it remained in power after the war ends. These latest threats are part of the same pattern. President Joe Biden was right to stand firmly by Israel and demand the release of hostages by Hamas. And President Donald Trump is right to do the same."

He then took care to describe October 7 in its full scope: "Hamas is a terrorist group that has ruled the Gaza Strip for nearly two decades. Its Oct. 7 attack, however, was not just an act of terrorism but a full-blown military invasion. More than 3,000 Hamas fighters in military formations attacked on multiple fronts, with a mission to inflict mass casualties and to take hostages, including mothers and toddlers, back inside Gaza to deter an Israeli response.

"In the days after the assault, as much of the world reeled in horror, with more than 1,000 people in Israel dead and 250 others taken hostage, Israel’s enemies, led by Iran, chose instead to back Hamas and seek advantage from Israel’s vulnerability."

McGurk then noted how Hamas, far from being interested in peace or disarmament or freeing the hostages, hunkered down and demanded to make no concessions at all:

"Hamas’s leaders pledged to repeat the October massacres and  reportedly welcomed the civilian toll in Gaza to increase pressure on Israel. A U.S.-mediated deal to release hostages in exchange for a ceasefire broke down less than two months into the crisis when Hamas refused to free young women it had agreed to release. Hamas then rejected continuing talks unless Israel accepted a permanent truce up front, with a return to the Oct. 6 status quo. Hamas’s Iranian backers reinforced the group’s demands as it continued to attack Israel."

McGurk noted that Hamas consistently refused to even release a list of hostages until quite recently: "While Hamas and its defenders claim it accepted this framework in early July, that is not true. Hamas reinserted demands for a permanent truce. And in those negotiations, it never — not once, even where nearly every other detail seemed locked down — agreed to a list of hostages that it would release if a ceasefire was agreed."

Biden's envoy states unequivocally that the current deal is thanks not only to diplomacy but also Israeli success on the battlefield:

"The talks ultimately succeeded because the military equation across the region changed, with Hamas isolated and no longer able to count on a multifront conflict. Indeed, it was not until late December that Hamas finally named the hostages it was holding and began to engage seriously on the terms for their release under the framework Biden had presented in May. This change in position came not from forceful diplomacy alone, but also from force of arms across the Middle East."

He ended by saying that "The only way to end this war is for Hamas to continue releasing hostages and accept terms for a future that might allow Israelis and Palestinians to live side by side in peace. That means a Gaza without Hamas in charge. If Hamas cannot do that, even as Israel is meeting its essential commitments under the deal, then the war could restart. That would be tragic, but the responsibility would rest with Hamas.