Relatives of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza and supporters protest march calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip in Tel Aviv, August 15, 2024. (Photo: Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
The United States, United Kingdom and Germany have been Israel’s strongest Western supporters amid the ongoing war in Gaza with the Iranian-backed terrorist organization Hamas.
During the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador Jack Lew, German Ambassador Steffen Seibert, and British Ambassador Simon Walters collectively urged Israel and Hamas to swiftly agree to a ceasefire and ensure the release of the remaining 115 hostages in Hamas captivity.
“Now is the time to come together. All of the remaining issues have solutions. If the parties come to the table with a mind for finding solutions, we can get this done. It may not be done in one meeting. But it has to get done,” Lew stated.
The joint public statement from the three countries comes amid the high-level summit in the Qatari capital Doha, where parts of the Hamas leadership reside.
“The meeting tomorrow is very important,” Lew assessed. “Time is always important, but time is particularly of the essence right now. We don’t know how many more chances we have to bring this negotiation back together and to have a successful conclusion.”
According to a recent New York Times article citing unnamed senior U.S. officials, Israel has reportedly reached the “end of the line” in its fight against Hamas in Gaza. The officials claimed that “Israel has achieved all that it can militarily in Gaza.”
While acknowledging that Israel has inflicted significant damage on Hamas and eliminated thousands of terrorists, U.S. officials argue that Israel will not be able to completely dismantle the group.
Washington’s top envoy in Israel also addressed the escalating tensions between the Iranian-backed Lebanese terrorist militia Hezbollah and Israel on the northern front.
“We also need to reach a diplomatic solution in the north. The meeting tomorrow is very important; it needs to bring a solution.” Lew said. “We don’t know how many more opportunities we will have to reunite hostages with their families and have a doorway to stability in the area.” He added that Washington urges “all parties to reach a deal now.”
The Western powers are concerned that Hezbollah’s continued attacks on northern Israel could potentially ignite a full-scale regional war between Israel and the Iranian-led axis.
German Ambassador to Israel Steffen Seibert agreed that the negotiations in Doha are “potentially decisive” for the fate of the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza.
“If successful, they could open up the possibility of finding a political solution to the fighting in the north and allow tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to return home,” said Seibert in a reference to the thousands of Israelis who have evacuated their homes as a result of the Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel. He stressed that “the Hamas terrorists could have and should have returned the hostages a long time ago.”
The three ambassadors cautioned that the Iranian regime would be held accountable if it derails the Doha negotiations.
For the last two weeks, Iran and its terror proxy in Lebanon Hezbollah, have vowed to launch a “revenge” attack against Israel for the elimination of top Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists in Beirut and Tehran. However, Iran and Hezbollah may have suspended the planned attacks as a result of a “promising start” to ceasefire negotiations at the Doha summit, which began on Thursday.
The Qatari Foreign Affairs Spokesman Majed Al-Ansari argued that the mediating countries, which include Qatar, Egypt and the U.S., “are resolute in their commitment to move forward in their endeavors to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza strip that would facilitate the release of hostages and enable the entry of the largest possible amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
