Biden administration races to secure a ceasefire in Gaza with Trump’s backing
By Alex Marquardt, MJ Lee, Jennifer Hansler and Kristen Holmes, CNN
(CNN) — The Biden White House is working increasingly closely with officials from the incoming administration as it races to try to reach a ceasefire and hostage deal to halt the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas before Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions.
In the wake of the recent ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, talks over a Gaza deal have resumed quickly but quietly, with US officials scarred by a year of faltering efforts that have gone nowhere.
Not only would the Biden White House like to finally reach a ceasefire in its final weeks in office, but Trump’s desire to start his second term with both the Lebanon and Gaza conflicts wrapped up and the hostages held by Hamas released has breathed new life into a framework that collapsed several months ago.
Five sources familiar with the conversations said there has been close coordination, with Trump’s team being kept apprised of the sensitive and painstaking work by Joe Biden’s administration.
The primary efforts are still being guided by Biden’s team and the two officials driving the ceasefire deal, CIA Director Bill Burns and the White House’s Brett McGurk. Their counterpart in the Trump camp is Steve Witkoff, Trump’s recently named Middle East envoy.
Witkoff visited both Israel and Qatar at the end of November, two sources familiar with his travel said. In his meeting with the Qatari prime minister, a principal mediator of the talks, they discussed the war in Gaza and the potential for a ceasefire deal.
In a social media post last week, Trump proclaimed that he wanted the hostages to be released by the time he takes office, warning that otherwise: “There will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against humanity.”
During a bitcoin conference in Abu Dhabi, Witkoff echoed his boss, telling Reuters: “Listen to what the president has got to say. It’s not a pretty day if they’re not released.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken even sought to spin Trump’s bellicose warning, also telling Reuters that the president-elect’s post was “a powerful reflection of the fact that we as Americans are determined to get the hostages back.”
“I think that’s a strong position across parties held by the United States, and we’re going to pursue every avenue we can in the time that we have left to try to get the hostages back and to get a ceasefire,” he added. “And I think the president-elect’s statement reinforces that.”
Biden officials have welcomed Trump’s support
Despite sharp policy differences between Biden and Trump on countless issues, current administration officials have welcomed the president-elect’s support rather than seeing conflict in the work to try to support a hostage deal.
“Both the outgoing and incoming teams are in constant touch, so there will be a smooth transition,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday on CBS, adding that he spent “considerable time” briefing his expected successor, Rep. Mike Waltz, on Syria over the weekend.
Trump has bucked speculation that he might prefer to see the end of the 14-month war on his watch, surprising some who thought that might mean more credit for the 47th president.
“He’s still going to want to take the credit, he’s still going to take the win,” said a source familiar with Trump’s thinking. “But he’s going to get credit for maintaining the ceasefire.”
Witkoff did not respond to a request for comment. CNN has reached out to the Trump transition team.
A year since the last truce in Gaza fell apart, participants in the talks are clear on their efforts but sober about their likelihood of success.
“I’m not going to sit here and describe the intricacies of the negotiations in public, but we very much believe a ceasefire is possible,” said Jon Finer, Biden’s deputy national security adviser, said on CNN on Monday. “It’s a huge priority of this administration to try to achieve one.”
The other principal Middle East adviser Trump has named, Massad Boulos, said recently that the war is “practically over” and that only the question of a hostage deal remains, which should happen “immediately” and not be linked to any “day-after” plans.
“There might be some disagreement on certain Palestinians [to be released in the deal], but apart from that the two camps have agreed on the broad outlines of an agreement,” Boulos told French outlet Le Point.
The flurry of contact and travel by Biden and Trump officials will soon include a trip by Sullivan to Israel this week for talks on a range of issues, including Gaza. He follows James Rubin, a top deputy to Blinken, who visited Jerusalem last week.
Trump officials engaging with Israelis
Key members of Trump’s national security team – and the president-elect himself – have also been engaged with members of the Israeli government, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Incoming national security adviser Waltz recently met in Washington with Netanyahu’s closest aide, Ron Dermer, according to one source familiar with the meeting.
Hamas and other groups are believed to be holding 100 hostages in Gaza – all but four of whom were captured on October 7, 2023. Around half are believed to still be alive, according to people familiar with the intelligence.
The framework again under discussion reflects earlier efforts spearheaded by the Biden administration, Qatar and Egypt, in which a first “humanitarian” phase would see the remaining female, elderly and wounded hostages be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Turkey is now involved in the discussions since Qatar closed the Hamas political office in Doha and much of the negotiating team decamped to Turkey, according to a diplomat involved in the talks.
A major sticking point in the discussions was Hamas’ insistence there would be no ceasefire without up-front guarantees that Israel would end the war altogether, which Netanyahu has refused to do. Hamas had backed off that requirement before talks fell apart, and it’s unclear where it stands, particularly in the wake of Israel’s killing of the group’s leader, Yahya Sinwar.
A source familiar with the negotiations told CNN that Israel is seeing more flexibility from Hamas and that Qatar is applying more pressure on the Gaza-based militant group as Doha looks to get into Trump’s good graces ahead of his inauguration.
“Indirect negotiations are underway. We can be more optimistic than before – but we are not there yet. I hope we will be there,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Monday.
Trump has named Adam Boehler, who worked in his first administration and who is a college friend of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, to serve as his top official for hostage affairs.
A former national security official who worked in the president-elect’s first administration said they expect Boehler to take on a more active role in the Gaza negotiations than the office under Biden, which is called SPEHA.
Ruby Chen, whose son Itay Chen was taken hostage and later confirmed to have been killed on October 7, told CNN he hopes Boehler’s selection “gives him the mandate to succeed in our case.”
“SPEHA can dedicate 100% of their time” to US hostages, Ruby Chen said, noting that the office “has congressional approval to actually have dialect conversations with terrorist organizations.”
“So there might be a place for SPEHA Adam [Boehler] to actually take the lead in having direct conversations with Hamas to discuss the release of the hostages in the new administration,” he said.
CNN’s Eugenia Yosef and Dana Karni contributed to this report.
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