Around 150 Hamas hostages are US citizens – and the apparatus to free them is in full swing. A special ambassador is involved. He is also allowed to negotiate directly with the terrorists.
When US President Joe Biden last spoke in support of Israel in the White House, he named one priority: freeing hostages. “I have directed my team to share intelligence and provide Israel with experts at all levels to help free the hostages,” Biden said.
Since Biden took office, the USA has been able to bring home 35 Americans who it believed had been held as political prisoners – most recently from Russia and Iran. Often through prisoner exchanges, in the case of Iran through the additional release of six billion dollars in previously frozen funds. According to the words of the US political scientist Danielle Gilbert: “Such deals are possible even in times of greatest geopolitical tensions.”
Special Ambassador takes care of negotiations
The wires for such negotiations come together in the US State Department – with the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. He is supported by numerous diplomats, lawyers and experts from the White House, the Pentagon and other ministries.
“This has developed since 2015, when the area was reorganized under President Obama,” says political scientist Gilbert. “There used to be two or three people in the State Department, but today there are many dozens who handle cases related to the phenomenon of hostage diplomacy.”
Negotiations with one Terrorist organization
The case of the Hamas hostages is particularly difficult: it is not yet clear how many there are or exactly where they are being held. Israel’s military counteroffensive has begun – and negotiations need to take place not with a state, but with a terrorist organization.
The current US special ambassador is Roger Carstens. He remains silent about ongoing negotiations. A few weeks ago, Carstens spoke at an Aspen Institute event and emphasized:
The USA generally does not negotiate with terrorists. But we do. My department has the authority to negotiate with terrorist groups to bring Americans home.
Many actors involved in the liberation
It is therefore quite possible that direct talks between the USA and Hamas representatives will now take place. The US has confirmed talks with countries such as Egypt, Qatar and Turkey – countries that have influence on Hamas or that can act as mediators from the US perspective.
As different as each case is in the end, in Carstens’ words, a whole range of actors are usually involved: “Non-governmental organizations, the US Congress, our allies and partners around the world – it’s always not just the US government.”
Hamas threatens to kill hostages
The pressure is great, time is short. There are threats from Hamas to kill hostages. But there are also statements from Hamas leaders living in exile that they want to free all Arabs in Israeli prisons and also Palestinians imprisoned in the USA.
Ido Dan, uncle of three Israeli children kidnapped by Hamas, told NPR radio: “I think the hostages are the most valuable thing Hamas has in its hands right now. I think they’re keeping them safe. “