Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday (5) he does not believe a ceasefire and hostage agreement is likely in the Gaza Strip, in a sharp rebuke to the Joe Biden administration’s insistence that a deal is close.
“There is no deal in the works. Unfortunately, it is not close,” Netanyahu told Fox News.
These comments stand in stark contrast to the US government’s relentlessly upbeat message in recent months.
On Sunday (1st), Biden highlighted that the parties were on the verge of an agreement and, on Wednesday (4), a high-ranking official in the Democratic administration commented that 90% of the agreement had already been concluded.
This, according to Netanyahu, is “exactly inaccurate.”
Netanyahu’s rejection is the latest example of a series of public comments this week by the Israeli prime minister that cast doubt on the possible deal.
U.S. officials have been reluctant to directly criticize Netanyahu, even as he has repeatedly distanced himself from the Biden administration’s position and cast doubt on its commitment to a potential deal.
A US National Security Council official acknowledged “frustrations” in the process on Thursday, while insisting that a deal was close.
“It’s absolutely inaccurate. There’s a story, a narrative out there, that there’s a deal,” the Israeli prime minister said of the US official’s statement the day before, which claimed that “basically, 90 percent of this deal has been agreed.”
US reinforces optimism
On Sunday (1st), when Israel announced that the bodies of six hostages had been found executed by Hamas, Biden still argued that negotiators were “on the verge of an agreement”.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby echoed those assessments in comments to reporters on Thursday, saying: “90 percent — on the verge of a deal. You call that optimism, I call it precision.”
Asked about Netanyahu’s comments, Kirby said: “I’m simply not going to engage in a public debate through you in the press with Prime Minister Netanyahu.”
“I would just say that this process has been complicated at times. We have faced setback after setback, and certainly we here in the administration are frustrated that we have not yet been able to complete this agreement,” he said.
“There are many reasons for this, but I won’t lie and say we’re not frustrated. Of course we are. We want to see the hostages home as soon as possible,” he added.
“But I would also say that as frustrating as it was at times, and as unhelpful as it was — not just public comments but even private maneuverings in the negotiation process — in getting the deal done, it did not diminish President Biden’s commitment to trying to move this forward,” Kirby said.
The spokesman also rejected the idea that the US government is overly optimistic about the prospects for a deal, noting that “we believe we have made immense progress in the last few months in terms of establishing the framework for the deal, but nothing is negotiated until everything is negotiated.”
A senior Biden administration official said Wednesday that most of the details of the phase one deal had been worked out.
The outstanding points, he said, are related to the withdrawal of Israeli forces inside Gaza, moving away from populated areas, and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
“Besides, that’s basically it,” he commented.
Regarding the prisoner swap, the official accused Hamas of adding new “unacceptable demands” for the prisoners they want released.
“What Hamas has demanded here, the Israelis have moved forward to meet the terms as best they can. And Hamas, frankly, on this issue, we have had a very frustrating process,” he said.
The official said the recent execution of six hostages by Hamas impacts ongoing negotiations and casts doubt on Hamas’ willingness to reach an agreement.
As for where Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops are expected to move during the first phase of a deal, the agreement under discussion does not mention the extension of the border between Egypt and Gaza, known as the Philadelphia Corridor, the official told reporters on Wednesday.
Instead, it says that in the first phase, the IDF should withdraw from “densely populated areas,” the official said. Israel argues that the border is not one of those areas and is vital to preventing weapons from being smuggled into Gaza.
Netanyahu makes demands
Benjamin Netanyahu has held two press conferences this week to argue that maintaining permanent control of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt is vital to Israel’s security.
“The first objective of the war was to destroy Hamas’ military and governance capabilities. The second was to free our hostages, and the third was to ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel. And all three objectives — all three — pass through Israeli control of the Philadelphia Corridor,” the premier alleged on Wednesday.
This emphasis on the Philadelphia Corridor in Netanyahu’s recent public statements has not been constructive, the US government official noted.
On Thursday, Netanyahu said Hamas “does not agree with anything. Not with the Philadelphia Corridor, not with the proposals to exchange hostages for imprisoned terrorists, not with anything. So this is just a false narrative.”
Hamas, in turn, points out that the prime minister has used “evasive and deceptive maneuvers” to avoid reaching an agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza.
The head of the organization’s negotiating team, Khalil Al-Hayya, highlighted in a speech released on Telegram that the “series of evasive and deceptive maneuvers practiced by Netanyahu to evade the obligation to reach an agreement on a ceasefire is now fully exposed to the mediators, the American administration, global public opinion and even the (Israeli) public.”
Newspaper says Netanyahu blocked deal
Netanyahu faces mounting accusations that he purposefully blocked a deal with Hamas.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, citing a document it obtained, reported that Netanyahu in July effectively scuppered a draft hostage and ceasefire agreement by introducing a series of new last-minute demands.
Several news outlets, including the CNN reported the demands made by Netanyahu in late July, but this is the first time the Israeli document has been obtained in full.
In the Fox News interview, Netanyahu rejected allegations that he blocked a deal.
“The obstacle to ending this war is Hamas. The obstacle to freeing the hostages is Hamas. Those who brutally killed, murdered six people in cold blood, riddled them with bullets and then shot them in the head is Hamas. It is not Israel. It is not me,” he alleged.
He was also asked about reports that families of American hostages still held by Hamas are pressuring the US government to unilaterally seek the release of their loved ones.
“I don’t know. You know, I don’t judge the families. They’re going through a lot of anguish,” he said.
A Biden administration official told CNN on Thursday that the United States has not made any offer to Hamas in an attempt to secure the release of American hostages held in Gaza, noting that the United States has no leverage for a unilateral deal with the group.
“Because of Hamas’ demands, there was no formal offer for a side deal, because such a deal is not possible,” the source stressed.
*With information from Abeer Salman, Tim Lister and MJ Lee, from CNN.
This content was originally published in Netanyahu denies that a ceasefire and hostage release agreement is close on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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