President Biden’s predictions of a cease-fire agreement between Hamas and Israel are looking too sweet to be true, with multiple Hamas officials rejecting the current deal.
Biden predicted between licks of an ice-cream cone on Monday that Hamas would accept a deal with Israel in the coming days, but statements from Hamas officials show little hope of progress.
“I hope by… the end of the weekend,” Biden said Monday with cone in hand. “My national security advisor tells me we’re close. We’re close. It’s not one yet. My hope is by next Monday, we’ll have a cease-fire.”
Meanwhile, multiple Hamas officials indicated on Tuesday and Wednesday that no breakthrough in negotiations had been made, according to The New York Times.
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“We are not interested in engaging with what’s been floated, because it does not fulfill our demands,” Hamas official Ahmad Abdelhadi said in an interview with a Lebanese broadcaster.
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More concerning, Hamas spokesman Basem Naim said the terrorist organization had not even received “any new proposals” since the parties met last week.
Hamas is not the only party warning Biden to pump the brakes. Qatar, which has played a major role throughout the negotiations, indicated on Tuesday that there is no deadline for an agreement.
“The efforts are ongoing; all the parties are conducting regular meetings,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told reporters, according to NYT. “But for now, while we certainly hope it will be achieved as soon as possible, we don’t have anything in our hands so as to comment on that deadline.”
Meanwhile, Israel is deep in the planning process for an expected invasion of Rafah, the Gaza town on the border with Egypt that plays host to both the final remnants of Hamas and key routes for aid.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an invasion would proceed at some point regardless of whether a cease-fire agreement is reached.
“If we have a deal, it will be delayed somewhat, but it will happen. If we don’t have a deal, we’ll do it anyway,” Netanyahu said of the Rafah operation.
