US Ambassador to Israel Makes Last Effort to Free US Hostages in GazaExBulletin

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jacob J. Lew poses for a portrait at his residence in Jerusalem, January 10. Maya Levin for NPR .

rock captionMaya Levin for NPR

JERUSALEM The United States is demanding the release of seven American hostages held in Gaza as part of negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, US Ambassador to Israel Jacob J . Lew at NPR.

“We are going to do everything we can in this cycle to get every American hostage out, alive and dead,” Lew said, shortly after meeting with the families of the American hostages at his official residence in Jerusalem.

Freeing all American hostages would be a step further than Hamas said this week it would be willing to take in an initial agreement. Hamas named only two American citizens among a group of 34 hostages, about a third of all hostages in Gaza, whom the group said it would release in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

A Hamas official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, told NPR that the United States had previously requested the release of all its citizens, and Hamas has said this would require a separate agreement with separate concessions. He said no such deal had ever been reached.

In a wide-ranging interview with NPR a week before his tenure as President Biden's envoy to Israel ended, Lew, who served as Treasury secretary under President Barack Obama, called the failure to free all the hostages more than a year after their capture by Hamas-led militants in Israel on October 7, 2023, “overwhelmingly” the greatest failure of US diplomacy in the war.

The United States had negotiated the release of a high-profile 23-year-old American hostage, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, in the weeks before he and five other hostages were killed by his captors in Gaza last August, said Lew, the first official from either country to speak publicly. confirm Israeli media reports making these claims.

“In the weeks leading up to his assassination, his name was on the list of everyone who would be revealed sooner rather than later,” Lew said. He said Hamas and Israel played a role in the breakdown of those negotiations last summer.

Unlike previous ambassadors who were household names in Israel and regularly appeared in local interviews, Lew largely kept a low profile during his 15-month tenure, publicly defending Israel's targeting of Hamas and its handling of the Gaza war while pressuring Israeli officials behind the scenes to pay more attention to Palestinian civilians.

But in his final interview with a U.S. media outlet before leaving his post this month, Lew expressed rare public frustration with Israel's depiction of U.S. involvement in the war, such as the U.S. suspension of some munitions deliveries due to disagreement over Israeli tactics. “Using a word like 'embargo' instead of a disagreement over munitions creates a sense of daylight that transcends difference,” he said.

Below are highlights from NPR's interview with Lew, edited for length and clarity.

Images of US hostages held in Gaza, including Edan Alexander, are displayed at the Jerusalem residence of US Ambassador to Israel Jacob J. Lew on January 10. Maya Levin for NPR .

. Maya Levin for NPR On US efforts to secure the release of all American hostages

We are going to do everything we can in this cycle to get every American hostage out, alive and dead. Our goal is to help all the hostages. My heart is breaking. Just before sitting down with you, I met with the families of the American hostages. Not for the first time. It was the first meeting I had in this house when I arrived here in November [2023]. And that's the last meeting I had before sitting down with you.

No one can feel the pain like they do, but I think they feel that, on behalf of the President of the United States and our government, there is nothing we can't do that we wouldn't do to help them . But we also cannot manufacture possibilities that do not exist.

I don't think there was a time where if we had said, okay, we're just going to run away from the American hostages, that would have been likely to produce good results.

I asked myself a million times, before Hamas murdered six hostages, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American citizen, you know, what else could we have done? If there was something else we could do, we didn't hesitate to explore options on things that might work.

In the weeks leading up to his assassination, his name was on the list of everyone who would come forward early. The fact that he was brutally murdered in cold blood, you know, while his name is actively in a discussion about releasing the hostages, kind of shows you what we're dealing with.

During the summer, in July and until the death of the hostages in August, Hamas was in a very, very rigid situation. We never got to the point where Hamas would have a position where you could have the confidence to know who was going to come out and what exactly needed to be done to get them out.

This is still today the question on which we struggle to reach a conclusion. …There have been many issues on which Israel has taken a very hard line and you know, one wonders whether some of these hard lines have created pressure that has helped the negotiations or shifted the responsibility for making possible a resolution.

People extract bodies from the rubble of a building destroyed during an Israeli strike on the Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip on January 8. EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images .

. EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images On Israel's killing of civilians in the Gaza Strip

It was a very hard war. The basic facts are often very unclear at the time there is a strike or an operation. I think as time passes and many cases have been widely publicized, it becomes clear that the targeting was thorough. You know, there was good intelligence. And the loss of civilian life was not as great as initially reported.

None of this takes away the tragedy of the loss of civilian life. But media coverage of the war has somehow blurred the issues in a way that deserves to be clearer. When fighting an enemy like Hamas, which deliberately hides its munitions, command and control operations, and military leaders and fighters behind civilians, it takes extraordinary efforts to limit civilian casualties.

I think that from the beginning of the war until today, we have seen efforts at a level that, when we consult with our Israeli counterparts, in principle reflects the kind of considerations that we apply ourselves.

People look at a ship off the coast of Gaza, near a temporary floating jetty anchored by the United States to bolster aid deliveries, seen from the central Gaza Strip on June 27, 2024. Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images

. Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images On US diplomatic success in securing increased aid to Gaza

When I arrived here, it was [aid] it was a trickle. It was almost nothing. We worked with leadership, particularly at the Ministry of Defense, but also with the Prime Minister's Office and key implementation offices, to lobby and reflect on the opening of Kerem Shalom, which is now the main point of entry into the country. to the south for goods bound for Gaza

So we took what was a closed and impenetrable system and, through daily commitment, managed to open the system. Now it doesn't stop there. Every day is a fight. Every time you solve a problem, a new problem appears. You know, if you bring in commercial trucks, it turns out they end up being largely controlled by either criminal enterprises or Hamas.

On Israel's chances of normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia if it pursues annexation of the occupied West Bank

I think that regarding the question of annexation, it is not the policy of [Israeli] government here now. I hope this does not become government policy here now. But there will be very difficult choices. There will be strategic choices, like the normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia, which, frankly, is why I came here.

I accepted this position in July 2023, when the objective was to normalize relations and being here could make a difference. That’s the pitch that brought me here. It is no less important today than it was in July 2023. It is no less in the interests of Saudi Arabia, Israel or the United States.

And that cannot coexist with annexation.

I think Israel's interest, its security interest, is clearly served by continuing down the path of normalization, by isolating Iran. Already, at the end of this war, the Iranian axis is weakened. Hezbollah is no longer its first line of defense. There is no longer an army fighting like Hamas. She no longer has refuge in Syria. … So I think if there was normalization with Saudi Arabia, it would compromise the ability to rebuild that country. This strengthens the acceptance of Israel by the rest of the Arab world. So I think it's a priority at the highest level.

Abu Bakr Bashir contributed to this report.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos