On “CNN News Central” on Friday, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) said President Joe Biden’s threat to withhold certain weapons from Israel will ease pressure on Hamas and Hamas said this made it less likely to reach a ceasefire agreement. Obtaining aid to Gaza and freeing hostages will become more difficult.
Moskowitz said he has problems with the House bill that would force Biden to transfer arms to Israel, but those concerns don’t really matter because the bill won’t become law anyway. My main objective was, earlier, when the president decided to withhold that particular weapon, I said I wanted to get a ceasefire, I wanted to increase humanitarian aid, and I wanted to get the hostages back. The only way to do that is to get Hamas to agree to a ceasefire. Unfortunately, the reason there is currently no ceasefire is because Israel agreed to the ceasefire proposed by the Egyptians, and then Hamas added additional conditions. However, the ceasefire agreement has been ruined.In other words, the ceasefire will not take place because Hamas leader Shinwar, who is buried in the tunnels, will not release the hostages and will not agree to the ceasefire. People are at risk. So without that pressure, that’s not going to happen. That’s why I opposed the president last week because I thought it would take the pressure off Hamas.”
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