I was recently interviewed on France’s public television station concerning the Israeli-Hamas hostage negotiation deal. I was asked who should get credit for negotiating an agreement that in Phase One is intended to bring a ceasefire, the return of 33 Israeli hostages, the release of roughly 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, the partial withdrawal of Israeli troops, and an acceleration of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
While not exclusive, significant negotiation credit should be given to:
1. President Joe Biden and his team
President Biden and his team developed the framework for this deal in May 2024 and worked tirelessly for months to move this negotiation forward.
For an excellent description of this negotiation’s last stage, check out The New York Times’ “The Sheik, the Mogul and the Diplomat.”
President Joe Biden’s envoy and lead negotiator Brett McGurk – a diplomat for both Democratic and Republican administrations – took a lead role and deserves a great deal of credit for pushing it over the goal line.
2. President Donald Trump and his team
Then President-elect Donald Trump and his team, especially New York real estate billionaire Steve Witkoff – Trump’s negotiation representative – played an important role in pressuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take the deal.
Netanyahu, of course, strongly needs U.S. and President Trump’s support moving forward.
3. The Qatari Mediator
This deal would not have been resolved without the lead mediator, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. He and his team exerted crucial Arab-based pressure on Hamas.
Mediation has played an indispensable role in many intractable international conflicts. That was certainly true here.
Importantly, they will continue to play this vital role in dealing with the deal’s implementation and the continuing negotiations during Phases 1, 2 and 3.
4. Israel’s Killing of Hamas’ Leader and its Military Degradation of Hezbollah and Iran
Perhaps the most credit, however, goes to the strategic changes on the ground in the last six months driven by Israel and supported by the U.S., including:
– Israel’s killing of Hamas’ leader Yahya Sinwar;
– the substantial elimination of Hamas’ terrorist ally Hezbollah as a dominant force in Lebanon and the destruction of its leadership; – the demise of Hamas’ and Hezbollah’s Syrian support from its now deposed leader Bashar al-Assad; and
– the significant weakening of regional power Iran from Israeli airstrikes and its ineffectualness in response, largely due to U.S. and its allies military help in defending Israel.
These changes markedly altered the negotiation realities and leverage at the table, largely by removing Hamas’ lifelines from Syria, Hezbollah and Iran. Without their support, and no prospect of future help, Hamas became increasingly isolated with no prospect of this changing.
Of course, none of this alters the horrific casualties of this conflict, from the 1,200 innocent Israeli victims of Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack to the nightmarish experiences of the Israeli, American and other hostages to the thousands of dead and injured Palestinian civilians.
Hopefully, however, this deal will signal a new and less deadly stage for all those living in this volatile region.
Latz’s Lesson: Individual credit is due to those involved in negotiating the Israeli-Hamas deal, but the negotiation was largely driven by major strategic and military changes in the region.
* Marty Latz is the founder of Latz Negotiation, a national negotiation training and consulting company that helps individuals and organizations achieve better results with best practices based on the experts’ research. He can be reached at 480.951.3222 or Marty@LatzNegotiation.com.