Speaking on “CNN News Central” on Thursday, White House national security and communications adviser John Kirby said a ceasefire agreement could be reached between Israel and Hamas “with compromise and leadership on both sides.”
Kirby said:[W]We believe that the gap that remains is narrow enough that we can easily cross it. Now, I say easily, and that’s probably not a good choice of words on my part, because if it were easy, we’d already be there. But what I’m saying is that the gap is narrow enough that with some compromise and leadership on both sides, I believe we can get this across the finish line. We’re getting closer to the finish line. And as I said, we’re closer than we’ve ever been. But we’re not there yet. So there’s still work to be done.”
Co-host Brianna Keilar asked, “Why not simply interpret this as US pressure on Israel to make a deal, when past attempts at pressure on Israel have failed and it could easily be interpreted that way?”
Kirby responded: “This is not a pressure tactic. We have been very vocal in our negotiations with both sides of the conflict that this framework agreement works. It will bring home hostages, it will bring a six-week ceasefire, it will dramatically improve humanitarian access inside the Gaza Strip. There’s a lot of good stuff. We just need to work out the final details. So if this is putting pressure on both sides because we’re working hard and we keep teams on the ground, then yes, we are putting pressure on both sides. We want to get this done.”
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