STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
And we have some news this morning about the quiet diplomacy with Hamas. NPR has learned that mediators presented the Palestinian militant group in Gaza with a written proposal for giving up its weapons. NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Jerusalem.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Hamas' military capabilities were badly degraded in the Gaza war, but it's still the most powerful armed group there. After the ceasefire was declared six months ago, Hamas said it was willing to discuss the question of its weapons but was waiting for a formal U.S. proposal. Now that proposal has been laid on the table. NPR spoke with a senior U.S. official, an additional official from the Mideast and a third person briefed on the proposal. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss this quiet diplomacy. Mediators gave Hamas the proposal in Cairo last week. It calls for Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza to hand over all their weapons and for a new transitional leadership in Gaza to be solely responsible for all arms in Gaza. Robert Danin was a senior official in the U.S. State Department and White House specializing in the Middle East.
ROBERT DANIN: The idea itself that Hamas would disarm is not out of the question. The question is, when and under what circumstances and at what price?
ESTRIN: He says the main price Hamas seeks is political legitimacy in Palestinian leadership, even beyond Gaza. A Hamas official told NPR the group has received the proposal but is waiting to see the results of the Iran war. Danin says the Iran war allows Hamas to buy time.
DANIN: No doubt the Iran war is something of a gift to Hamas. With the United States, Israel and even the Arab partners all focused elsewhere, pressure is alleviated for them to take actions that they don't really want to take.
DANIN: President Trump's Board of Peace high representative, Nickolay Mladenov, said on social media, if Hamas agrees to give up its weapons, there would be reconstruction in Gaza. That's the same thing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants, as he said earlier this year.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: (Speaking Hebrew).
ESTRIN: "There will be no reconstruction of Gaza before the disarmament of Gaza."
Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Jerusalem.
(SOUNDBITE OF OF TWO MINDS' "TRANSITION 001: DEPARTURE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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