U.S. ambassador to Israel makes his closing push for launch of U.S. hostages from Gaza

JERUSALEM — The U.S. is in search of the discharge of all seven American hostages held in Gaza in negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jacob J. Lew informed NPR on Friday.

“We are going to do everything we can in this round to get all the American hostages, living and dead, out,” Lew mentioned, shortly after assembly with households of American hostages in his official residence in Jerusalem.

Releasing all the U.S. hostages could be a step additional than what Hamas mentioned this week it could be ready to do in an preliminary deal. Hamas has named solely two U.S. residents in a bunch of 34 hostages — a few third of all hostages in Gaza — that the group mentioned it could free in trade for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

A Hamas official, who spoke on the situation of anonymity as a result of he was not licensed to talk to the media, tells NPR the U.S. had beforehand requested for the discharge of all its residents, and Hamas mentioned that may require a separate take care of separate concessions. He mentioned such a deal was by no means pursued.

In a wide-ranging interview with NPR every week earlier than the tip of his tenure as President Biden’s emissary to Israel, Lew, who served as Treasury secretary beneath President Barack Obama, referred to as the failure to free all of the hostages greater than a yr after their seize by Hamas-led militants in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, “overwhelmingly” the largest failure of U.S. diplomacy within the warfare.

The U.S. had been negotiating the discharge of a distinguished 23-year-old American hostage, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, within the weeks earlier than his captors in Gaza killed him and 5 different hostages final August, Lew mentioned — the primary official from both nation to publicly verify Israeli media experiences making these claims.

“In the weeks before he was killed, his name was on everyone’s list of who would come out in an early phase,” Lew mentioned. He mentioned each Hamas and Israel performed a task within the failure of these talks final summer time.

Not like earlier ambassadors who had been family names in Israel and appeared commonly in native interviews, Lew has largely stored a low profile in his 15-month tenure, publicly defending Israel’s focusing on of Hamas and dealing with of the Gaza warfare — whereas lobbying Israeli officers behind the scenes to take larger care with Palestinian civilians.

However in his final interview with a U.S. media outlet earlier than leaving the put up this month, Lew voiced uncommon public frustration with Israel’s characterization of U.S. involvement within the warfare, such because the U.S. pausing of some munitions shipments amid a disagreement over Israel’s ways. “Using a word like ’embargo’ instead of a disagreement about ammunition creates an impression of daylight that’s greater than the difference,” he mentioned.

Under are highlights from NPR’s interview with Lew, edited for size and readability.

On U.S. efforts to safe the discharge of all U.S. hostages

We’re going to do the whole lot we are able to on this spherical to get all of the American hostages, dwelling and lifeless, out… Our purpose is to assist all of the hostages. My coronary heart breaks. Simply earlier than sitting with you, I met with the households of the American hostages. Not for the primary time. It was the primary assembly I had on this home once I obtained right here in November [2023]. And it is the final assembly I had earlier than I sat down with you. 

Nobody can really feel the ache the way in which they do, however I believe they really feel that, from the president of america all through our authorities, there’s nothing we are able to do this we would not do to assist them. However we can also’t manufacture prospects that do not exist. …

I do not assume there was a second the place if we had mentioned, okay, we’re simply going to make a run for the American hostages, that may have been prone to produce good outcomes. …

I requested myself 1,000,000 instances, earlier than Hamas murdered six hostages, together with Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American citizen, you understand, what else might now we have performed? If there was the rest we had in our potential to do, we weren’t shy to discover choices about issues that would work.

Within the weeks earlier than he was killed, his identify was on everybody’s checklist of who would come out in an early section. The truth that he was brutally murdered in chilly blood, you understand, whereas his identify is actively in a dialogue on the discharge of hostages, form of reveals you what we’re coping with. 

Over the summer time, July and up till the hostages had been killed in August, Hamas was in a really, very inflexible place. … We did not ever get to the purpose the place it got here collectively when it comes to Hamas having a place that may allow you to trust that you just knew who was going to return out and what precisely needed to be performed to get them out.

That is nonetheless in the present day the difficulty that we’re struggling to get closure on. …There have been many factors the place Israel has taken a really onerous line and you understand, one can debate whether or not a few of these onerous traces created stress that helped the negotiations or shifted the duty for making decision potential.

On Israel’s killing of civilians within the Gaza Strip

It has been a really onerous warfare. The fundamental details are sometimes very murky in the intervening time when there is a strike or an operation. I believe as time goes on for most of the situations which were broadcast broadly, it turns into clear that there was cautious focusing on. You understand, there was good intelligence. And the lack of civilian life was not as nice as reported initially.

None of that takes away the tragedy of the lack of civilian lives. However the protection of the warfare has form of blurred the problems in a method that must be extra clear. If you’re preventing an enemy like Hamas that is intentionally hiding its munitions and its command and management operations and its army leaders and fighters behind civilians, it takes extraordinary effort to restrict civilian casualties. 

I believe from the start of the warfare until now, we have seen efforts at a stage that once we seek the advice of with our Israeli counterparts in precept displays the sorts of issues that we ourselves apply.

On U.S. diplomatic success in getting extra support into Gaza

After I obtained right here, it [aid] was a trickle. It was near nothing … We labored with the leaders, significantly within the protection ministry, however within the prime minister’s workplace, in the important thing implementing workplaces, to press for and assume by means of opening Kerem Shalom, which is now the primary level of entry within the south for items into Gaza…

So we took what was a closed system that was impenetrable and thru every day engagement, achieved opening up the system. Now, it would not finish there. Day by day is a wrestle. Each time you resolve an issue, there is a new drawback. You understand, in the event you herald business vehicles, it seems they’re ending up being managed largely by both felony enterprises or Hamas.

On Israel’s possibilities of normalized relations with Saudi Arabia if it pursues annexation of the occupied West Financial institution

I believe on the query of annexation, it isn’t the coverage of the [Israeli] authorities right here now. I hope it would not change into the coverage of the federal government right here now. However there will likely be very troublesome decisions. There will likely be strategic decisions, like normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia, the place, frankly, it is the explanation I got here right here.

I accepted this put up in July of 2023, when the purpose was to normalize relations and being right here might make a distinction. That was the pitch that obtained me to return right here. It is no much less necessary in the present day than it was in July of 2023. It is no much less within the curiosity of Saudi Arabia, Israel or america.

And it could actually’t coexist with annexation.

I believe the curiosity of Israel, the safety curiosity, is manifestly served by continuing on the trail in the direction of normalization, isolating Iran. Already, on the finish of this warfare, Iran’s axis is weakened. It now not has Hezbollah as a entrance line of protection. It now not has a military preventing as Hamas. It now not has a protected haven in Syria. … So I believe if there have been normalization with Saudi Arabia, it undermines the flexibility to rebuild that. It strengthens Israel’s acceptance with the remainder of the Arab world. So I believe it is a precedence on the highest stage.

Abu Bakr Bashir contributed to this report.