Multiple reports on Sunday and Monday, citing anonymous sources, reported that attempts by President Joe Biden's administration to end Israel's self-defense operations against the Islamic extremist terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip have not produced any significant progress.
Israel and Hamas have reportedly rejected the latest attempt from the White House to reach a ceasefire agreement. The Israel Times Reported On Sunday, the Israeli government politely expressed “reservations” about the proposed agreement, while suggesting that Hamas terror leaders had “categorically rejected” it. The proposed agreement appears to be the result of Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to central mediator Egypt last week, where he was reportedly finalizing a draft “bridge” proposal that could lead to an agreement between the terror group and its target countries.
Israel declared war on Hamas after the Iranian-backed Palestinian terrorist organization orchestrated an unprecedented terrorist attack in the country on October 7, 2023. Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel and conducted door-to-door raids on residential neighborhoods, killing entire families, committing infanticide, gang rape, and desecration of corpses. The terrorists also took an estimated 250 people hostage, of which approximately 100 died. Believed He remains in captivity in Gaza, a Hamas stronghold.
Watch — Evil: See the aftermath of Hamas' attack on an Israeli kindergarten
Joel B. Pollack/Breitbart News
Biden administration officials have repeatedly said that they and the president believe the best way to rescue the remaining hostages is to reach an agreement to end Israel's war against Hamas. They are not enthusiastic supporters of a battlefield victory over Hamas. Israel has officially Adopted The four objectives of the war are to eliminate Hamas, return the hostages, return the more than 60,000 people displaced by Hezbollah in northern Israel, and ensure that Gaza, the terrorist source of the incursion, cannot be used to launch terrorist attacks against Israel.
The Israeli government has listened to American proposals, with input from neighboring Egypt and Qatar, but ultimately determined that the Biden administration's potential deal would not achieve its war goal of eliminating Hamas. Meanwhile, Hamas has maintained that it negotiated in good faith, but has rejected previously agreed deals and continues to make outrageous demands that are unattractive to Israel. Hamas has even rejected proposals that the Biden administration acknowledged were Hamas's own initiative.
of The Israel TimesCiting Israel's Channel 12, Reported On Monday, Biden administration officials “sent a draft of a new proposal to Israel and, through intermediaries in Qatar and Egypt, to Hamas,” which was met with negative reactions from both sides. Israel reportedly rejected calls to withdraw its troops from key areas such as the Philadelphia border, while Hamas terrorists said they “will not accept any agreement that differs from the proposal presented by US President Joe Biden at the end of May.”
The May agreement did not require Hamas to disarm or stop threatening Israel, and Hamas would continue to control Gaza. Not only did Israel reject the proposed agreement, Hamas itself had rejected it before it was re-emerged in May.
American media outlet Politico reported on Monday that a deal is unlikely to be reached before the end of Biden's term in January, given that the Biden administration has tried and failed to finalize the agreement multiple times. The White House appears to be pressuring officials to reach some sort of agreement to end Israel's defensive operations in Gaza before the US holds its presidential election in November, which could benefit Biden's Vice President Kamala Harris' electoral prospects.
“Biden has told his national security team that reaching a ceasefire agreement is his top priority for the remainder of his term, three officials said,” Politico reported. ReportedCiting only anonymous sources, the report said Harris “believes this bill will bolster her record in two ways: First, it will give her a reputation as a peacemaker, and second, it could ease her path to victory.”
“Just keep trying,” Biden reportedly told officials, but Politico sources said a deal is unlikely to be reached.
White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby Echoed He expressed that sentiment at a press conference on Saturday, declaring that “no one has given up hope.”
“No one is going to stop this effort,” Kirby insisted. “As I've said many times before, I believe a ceasefire is the best way to bring the hostages home.”
That said, Kirby added, “It's difficult, it's daunting, and we're no closer to getting there than we were a week or so ago.”
Kirby blamed Hamas alone for the failure of the negotiations.
of The Israel Times Reuters ReportedPessimism remains strong within the Biden administration, according to the anonymous official.
“A deal is not imminent. We don't know if a deal will be reached,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Using diplomatic negotiations, genocidal The terrorist attacks were a major embarrassment for the Biden administration. In August, Blinken visited the Middle East to finalize the agreement, bizarrely calling it his “last chance” to do so. A ceasefire during the trip would have been a major political victory for Democrats at their national convention, but no such deal ever materialized, and Blinken, undeterred by his “last chance” remarks, continued to push for the deal.
When Secretary of State Blinken visited Egypt from September 17 to 19, the State Department said,Paragraph 18The day after the agreement, Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades released a video announcing the resumption of mass suicide attacks.
“You have ignited a fire that will never be extinguished until we drive you from our homes and our lands… We have prepared you for certain death,” the terrorists declared in the video.
“This solution is not so much a question of content but of political will. It is important for both sides to demonstrate the political will to conclude this agreement,” Blinken declared during a visit to Egypt, urging terrorists to muster the “political will” needed to choose a ceasefire agreement over the threat of “certain death.”
