'We’re not scrapping existing Gaza hostage deal, time of essence,’ US envoy says

The United States can’t scrap the existing Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal that has been under debate since May 31, US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew said on Thursday, as negotiations continued without an end date in sight.

“We can't begin working on a plan B because the minute you say that there's going to be focus on a Plan B, Plan A becomes impossible,” Lew said during a public appearance at the International Institute for Security Studies at Tel Aviv University.

“I think this plan A still has a very feasible path towards being accomplished,” he stated.

Lew spoke toward the end of a dramatic week in Israel, which saw the return of the bodies of six hostages Hamas had executed just days earlier.

Hope had been high for a conclusion to hostage deal talks after US officials described a Sunday summit in Doha as end-game negotiations, but the talks dragged on beyond that summit.

Netanyahu has been accused of sabotaging those talks with his very public insistence that Israel must retain an IDF presence in the Philadelphi Corridor, a critical buffer zone.

Security officials have warned that his stance has delayed the talks, with some saying that a deal could be quickly reached if Netanyahu would for the temporary evacuation of the IDF the Philadelphi, a critical buffer zone between Egypt and Gaza.

US hostage families call on Washington

Relatives of hostages with dual Israeli-American citizenship have called on Washington to make a separate deal with Hamas. 

Washington “can't skip over this plan quite that quickly because we're devoting most of our energy… from the President of the United States down through the entire foreign policy team, including myself,” to finalizing this deal, he said. 

“So we're treating Plan A not as something that it would be nice to have. It's something that we have to devote our 24/7 efforts to making happen,” Lew said.

He dismissed reports that talks were stalled, explaining that “progress continues to be made” on issues of disagreement and very senior-level talks continue, he said.

“We're not prepared to take the view that plan A is not achievable,” he said.

Attempting to 'bridge gaps'

Qatar, Egypt, and the US are working with Israel to present another document to Hamas that attempts to bridge the gaps between the two parties, he said.

Both sides, Israel and Hamas, have to be flexible here.

“Very strong public comments sometimes coexist with residual flexibility… and we're going to press on that flexibility,” Lew explained.

He recalled the agreement had three stages and the current debate was only about about Phase One, which covers a six-week period.

“I think there's a pathway on Phase One to have an agreement if Egypt and Israel can agree on something. Obviously, the question remains: can Hamas agree to it?"

“We’ll never find out unless we present a full plan to Hamas. And that's what the goal of these next days and hopefully very short number of weeks is,” Lew said.

He dismissed the significance at this junction on speculation regarding what would be involved in Phase Two of the deal because that is “going to be beyond what the current negotiation is about.”

Starting Phase One

The conversation now is about the start of the process, which is Phase One, Lew said, adding that the killing of the six hostages underscored how imperative it was to move quickly.

“From our vantage point, it is absolutely essential to get into phase one. That's how you save lives,” Lew said, referring to the remaining 101 hostages in Gaza, of which 66 are esteemed to be alive.

“Time is of the essence,” he stressed, adding that, “these lives will not be there to save if we wait too long. That should motivate everybody not to give up on Phase One.”