‘We knew we're not gonna get a hostage deal until Yahya Sinwar is dead’

Former White House Middle East adviser Brett McGurk has offered a behind-the-scenes account of the prolonged negotiations to free Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, describing a diplomatic process repeatedly derailed by new demands, political disagreements and developments on the battlefield. “This was the most complex and horrific crisis I’ve ever dealt with,” McGurk told The Sunday Times. In an interview published by The Sunday Times on Saturday, McGurk discussed his forthcoming book, Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7th Hostages, which examines the efforts of American negotiators to secure the release of those abducted during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. One of the most devastating setbacks came in August 2024, when negotiations appeared close to producing an agreement involving a ceasefire, the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners and measures to ease restrictions on movement in Gaza. Those hopes collapsed after Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six hostages murdered by Hamas in a tunnel beneath Rafah: Alex Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, Carmel Gat, Ori Danino, Hersh Goldberg-Polin and Eden Yerushalmi. McGurk recalled learning of their deaths from then-CIA Director William Burns. He subsequently advised President Joe Biden that meaningful progress was unlikely while Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar remained alive. The killings reinforced his assessment that the negotiations could not succeed without a fundamental change in the circumstances on the ground. Netanyahu's competing objectives McGurk, who served in senior Middle East policy positions under several American presidents, described the hostage crisis as the most difficult diplomatic challenge of his career. He said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pursued two objectives throughout the war: securing the hostages' release and preventing Hamas from retaining control of Gaza. Those priorities were not always compatible, complicating American attempts to broker an agreement. “I always found him extremely confident in his assumptions,” McGurk said of Netanyahu. “If you try to tell him he’s seeing it wrong, it’s tough to make that case.” McGurk nevertheless rejected the argument that Netanyahu's decisions were driven exclusively by political survival. He portrayed the Israeli leader as deeply convinced of his own assessments and difficult to persuade when American officials disagreed with him. The former envoy reserved particularly sharp criticism for Hamas, accusing the terrorist organization of repeatedly obstructing negotiations. He pointed to the breakdown of the first temporary ceasefire in December 2023, when Hamas failed to release additional female hostages as anticipated. Accounts of sexual abuse subsequently provided by released captives raised further concerns about the treatment of women held in Gaza. According to McGurk, Hamas also complicated negotiations by failing to provide reliable information about the hostages it was prepared to release. He argued that international discussion of the war often focused heavily on Israeli military operations while paying insufficient attention to Hamas' responsibility for the conflict and its continuation. Sinwar's strategy and the civilian toll McGurk said Sinwar had spent years preparing for a confrontation with Israel, including the development of an extensive underground tunnel network that presented major operational challenges for the Israeli military. In his assessment, Sinwar hoped the October 7 attack would provoke a wider regional conflict that could threaten Israel's existence. Although that broader objective was not achieved, McGurk acknowledged that the war had seriously damaged Israel's international standing. He also expressed frustration over the inability to establish arrangements that would have allowed Palestinian civilians to escape the fighting in Gaza. Drawing on his experience with military campaigns against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, McGurk noted that large numbers of civilians had been evacuated from combat zones in previous conflicts. In Gaza, however, residents had few options for escaping the fighting. He argued that temporary evacuation arrangements should have been explored alongside enforceable guarantees allowing displaced Palestinians to return to their homes. McGurk acknowledged the historical sensitivities surrounding Palestinian displacement, particularly the experience of refugees from the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, but maintained that civilian protection should have received greater attention. How Biden and Trump officials worked together McGurk also credited cooperation between the outgoing Biden administration and President Donald Trump's incoming team with helping advance the negotiations. Following Trump's victory in the November 2024 presidential election, McGurk began coordinating with Steve Witkoff, who would become Trump's Middle East envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and former senior adviser. By that stage, the regional balance had changed significantly. Israeli forces had killed Sinwar, dealt major blows to Hezbollah in Lebanon and struck Iranian military capabilities. McGurk believed those developments created an opportunity to renew diplomatic efforts. He said coordination between the two administrations proved essential, despite the deep political divisions in Washington. “We wouldn’t have been able to get the deal without the two teams working together,” McGurk said. The first hostages released under the resulting agreement returned on Biden's final day in office in January 2025. Subsequent releases took place under Trump, with the remaining hostages returned in October 2025. McGurk described the cooperation as an example of bipartisan coordination on a critical foreign policy issue. The unresolved future of Gaza Despite the end of the war and the return of the hostages, McGurk warned that the underlying political and security problems remain unresolved. Hamas has been severely weakened but has not disappeared as an armed organization. Gaza continues to face extensive destruction and humanitarian hardship, while Israeli forces retain a military presence in parts of the territory. McGurk sees only a limited path toward lasting stability, one requiring Hamas to disarm, Israeli forces to withdraw and a new Palestinian governing structure to emerge. He stressed that the October 7 attack fundamentally changed Israel's approach to threats along its borders. “What you need to appreciate is that, after October 7, Israel will never allow threats to gather on its border again,” McGurk said. In his view, Israel will not permit Hamas to rebuild its military capabilities or allow Hezbollah to reestablish a large armed presence near its northern communities. Although McGurk acknowledged grounds for criticizing some Israeli military decisions, he argued that preventing another October 7-style attack remains a legitimate security objective. He also rejected growing calls in American political circles to distance Washington from Israel, maintaining that close engagement offers the United States greater influence over Israeli decision-making than isolation or punitive measures.