🧵Witkoff appeared to rationalize Hamas in the startling interview, employing some of rhetoric used by US hostage envoy Adam Boehler, who infuriated Israel earlier this month & sparked efforts by Netanyahu’s confidant Dermer to lobby for his removal (1/10) timesofisrael.com/witkoff-hamas-… Witkoff said Friday that he doesn’t believe Hamas is “ideologically intractable” and that Netanyahu is “well-motivated” but operating against Israeli public opinion that prioritizes freeing the remaining hostages from Gaza over the destruction of Hamas. (2/10)

Adam Boehler has withdrawn his nomination to serve as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, a senior US official tells @TimesofIsrael, clarifying that he will continue to manage the file, but with a lower level file that doesn’t require senate confirmation (1/11) The move comes amid anger in Israel over unprecedented direct talks Boehler held with Hamas in recent weeks aimed largely at securing the release of five remaining American hostages in Gaza. (2/11)

US envoy to Mideast Steve Witkoff goes public with many of the key terms of a "bridge proposal" he submitted on Wed in Doha, while dismissing as disingenuous the announcement Hamas made earlier today that it had agreed to release American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander. (1/11) Witkoff demands that Hamas immediately release the 20-year-old soldier, and suggests that he has given the terror group a deadline for doing so, warning of consequences if that unspecified date passes. (2/11)

(1/27)

🧵NEW: Feeling heat from Trump to 'solve' Gaza, Arab states losing patience w/ PA's Abbas

Leaders of 7 Arab countries gathered for emergency summit last week in Riyadh w/ rounding out counterproposal to Trump Gaza takeover plan at top of agenda.

timesofisrael.com/feeling-heat-f… 2.

Trump, for now, is standing by his controversial poposal to "clean out" the Gaza Strip's entire population, though his aides have indicated idea aimed at spurring Arab allies to come up w/ own plan for post-war management of the enclave that removes Hamas from power.

🧵 NEW: Qatar summoned Hamas leaders back to Doha this week in order to revive hostage negotiations at the behest of officials from Trump’s transition team, two sources familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Friday (1/16) timesofisrael.com/trump-aides-as… Qatar ousted Hamas leaders in late October, with Biden administration officials telling The Times of Israel that they had asked Doha to take the step due to Hamas’s months-long refusal to constructively engage in negotiations toward a ceasefire and hostage release deal. (2/16)

🧵New: Biden admin is lobbying Dem senators to vote against legislation being advanced by several of party’s most progressive members aimed at blocking over $20 billion in weapon shipments to Israel, two US officials told @TimesofIsrael on Tuesday. (1/13)timesofisrael.com/biden-admin-ur… In making case against the legislation, Biden aides argue that weapons in question are essential for Israel’s defense & won’t be delivered until 2026-2027, “So likelihood of them being used in this iteration of the Gaza context is very low,” explained one admin official. (2/13)

🧵New: Trump has told Netanyahu that he wants Israel to wrap up the war in Gaza by the time he returns to office if he wins the election, two sources familiar with the matter revealed to @TimesofIsrael this week. (1/8) timesofisrael.com/trump-told-net… The message was first sent when the Republican presidential nominee hosted the Israeli premier at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort in July, according to a former Trump administration official and an Israeli official. (2/8)

🧵Qatari & Egyptian mediators have warned the US that Israel’s killing of Yahya Sinwar complicates efforts to broker a ceasefire and hostage release deal b/n Israel and Hamas, two US officials and one Arab diplomat told @TimesofIsrael (1/10)
timesofisrael.com/in-warning-qat… The Biden administration has sought to frame the IDF’s October 16 killing of Sinwar as an opportunity for a breakthrough in the hostage negotiations, arguing that the Hamas leader was the main obstacle to a deal. (2/10)

🧵Two senior Israeli officials have expressed concern to @TimesofIsrael over Trump’s repeated call for Israel to quickly end its war against Hamas in Gaza, fearing an inability to do so will lead to a clash if the former president returns to office (1/9) timesofisrael.com/if-trump-wins-… “There are internal political constraints to ending the war quickly,” one of the Israeli officials from the security establishment said on Sunday.

While declining to elaborate, he appeared to refer to the makeup of Netanyahu’s coalition. (2/9)

🧵Analysis: One year since Oct. 7, US resigned to limits of its influence over Netanyahu (1/15) via @timesofisraeltimesofisrael.com/one-year-since… The Biden admin's policy on Lebanon appeared to shift dramatically within hours last week.

Began Sept 30 by calling for a “ceasefire now," telling reporters he was aware of Israeli plans to soon launch a limited ground incursion & was “comfortable with them stopping.” (2/15)

🧵New: US officials have been deliberating steps that the administration could take during the lame-duck period to curb the effort by Netanyahu’s gov to expand Israel’s footprint in West Bank, a current & an ex-senior US official told @TimesofIsrael (1/29) timesofisrael.com/us-officials-w… The nearly three-month period from the November 5 presidential election to the January 20 inauguration will come with additional “political flexibility,” which will allow space for more confrontational policies vis-a-vis the Israeli government, said the current US official (2/29)

Ceasefire proposal US submitted last week to try & bridge gaps b/n Israel & Hamas went too far to accommodate Netanyahu’s positions re IDF presence in Rafah & Netzarim Corridors, two Arab officials from mediating country & 3rd official involved in talks tells @TimesofIsrael (1/7) Accordingly, talks at an impasse & an Arab official laments that there’s no point in holding another planned high-level gathering of negotiators later this week in Cairo, unless US pressures Netanyahu to come down from new demands & amends bridging proposal accordingly (2/7)

A ceasefire and hostage-release agreement between Israel and Hamas won't be possible unless US President Joe Biden exerts more pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, two Arab officials from mediating countries @TimesofIsrael. (1/11)
timesofisrael.com/hostage-deal-w… The officials charged that Netanyahu is the main obstacle to an agreement at this stage of the talks, which hit an impasse last month after Hamas caved on its main demand and the premier responded by issuing a series of new conditions. (2/11)

Privately, the idea of sanctioning Smotrich been raised in recent weeks, as admin's alarm & frustration peak over PA's potentially imminent collapse, US official told @TimesofIsrael, noting PA cant pay employees w/o tax revenues he's withholding (1/22) timesofisrael.com/is-the-us-pois… Such a step has never been taken against an Israeli minister, and the US official acknowledged that it is unlikely to be seen through. But the fact that it is even being considered highlights how concerned the US is about the possibility that Ramallah will stop functioning (2/22)

The primary issue complicating negotiations after Hamas’s response to the Israeli hostage deal proposal is that the terror group is demanding an Israeli guarantee up front that it will agree to a permanent ceasefire, two officials familiar tell @TimesofIsrael (1/6) The Israeli proposal submitted on May 27 stopped short of this requirement, instead requiring the sides to first agree to a six-week phase one truce during which they will hold talks on a permanent ceasefire that will begin in phase two of the deal. (2/6)

Israel's Amb to UN Gilad Erdan informed US counterpart Linda Thomas-Greenfield earlier today that Jerusalem opposes the Security Council resolution being advanced by the US, which expresses support for latest Israeli ceasefire proposal, Israeli official tells @TimesofIsrael (1/7) The opposition is not expected to influence the rest of the yet-to-be-scheduled vote, given that Israel is not a member of the SC, but resistance is likely to irk Washington, given that it has repeatedly blocked initiatives at the SC that were viewed as hostile to Israel. (2/7)

Qatar quietly asked Hamas leaders to leave Doha last month amid frustration with the terror group’s handling of the hostage negotiations, two government officials told @TimesofIsrael this week. (1/15)
timesofisrael.com/qatar-briefly-… This was the first time since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war that Qatar took such a step, aiming to pressure the terror organization to agree to a compromise in talks that have yet to bear fruit since a weeklong hostages-for-truce deal in late November. (2/15)

The UN’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict Pramila Patten pulled out of a Security Council session where she was supposed to brief members about the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, a UN diplomat told @TimesofIsrael (1/5)
timesofisrael.com/un-sexual-viol… Invitations to the Thursday event organized by the US Mission the UN were sent to Security Council members last week and obtained by @TimesofIsrael The session is titled “Condemning hostage taking in Israel on October 7 as a psychological tool of terrorism.” (2/5)

The US aims to wrap up Gaza war. How does that square with its goal of toppling Hamas?

The US hasn't directly addressed this apparent dissonance, but two US officials and two other sources familiar offered some more clarity to @TimesofIsrael (1/18)
timesofisrael.com/the-us-aims-to… “The goal is for Hamas to be severely weakened when the dust settles, i.e., incapable of carrying out another attack like the one [it] launched on October 7,” the first US official said. (2/18)

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is not hiding in Rafah, two officials familiar with the matter tell @TimesofIsrael as the IDF moves to expand its operations in Gaza’s southernmost city. (1/12)
timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry… Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has elevated a potential IDF operation in Rafah to the top of his public agenda, but targeting Hamas’s leadership is believed to still be a major Israeli war aim as well. (2/12)

In bluntest threat yet, Biden says Israel will have to choose between Rafah op, US arms

How we got here: 🧵

(1/18)
timesofisrael.com/in-bluntest-th… For months, the US said it could not support a major Rafah offensive without a credible plan in place to ensure that civilians there would be protected. To date, Israel has yet to present such a full-fledged plan to US, which contributed to shift in Biden’s approach (2/18)