White House Urges Israel to Address ‘Gaps’ in Ceasefire Negotiations

The White House, for the second time in as many days, applied pressure on Israel during negotiations with Hamas terrorists to secure a cease-fire for hostages’ deal.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby expressed optimism on Tuesday that the “gaps” can and should be bridged to reach a deal, despite Israel denying any such agreement, as reported by Axios here.

“Hamas responded yesterday and proposed amendments. This is all part of the negotiation process. Based on our analysis of the text, we believe that these gaps can be closed,” Kirby stated during Tuesday’s White House press briefing.

This marks the second day where the White House has criticized Israel. Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt and retired Army Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer told Newsmax on Monday that the White House trapped Israel after Hamas announced accepting a cease-fire offer that Israel had no part in creating.

Instead, Hamas accepted a more lenient proposal from Egypt and Qatar, a move Israel claimed the U.S. was aware of yet did not alert them before Hamas agreed to it, according to Axios.

A Hamas political official reiterated this on Tuesday.

“The responsibility lies with Israel and the American administration because the agreement we accepted was approved by all mediators, including the U.S.,” said Osama Hamdan.

The mediators assured Hamas that Israel would honor the agreement.

An Israeli official told Reuters this was a tactic to make Israel appear as the party rejecting a deal.

“This was a setup. It was an information operation designed to lead to the outcome we witnessed,” Shaffer told Newsmax on Monday.

Despite Kirby’s claims on Tuesday that a deal can “absolutely be finalized,” Israel maintains that the gaps are still significant.

Nevertheless, Israel sent a delegation to Cairo on Tuesday despite their displeasure with the Biden administration and Egypt. The delegation will include Hamas members, Egyptian and Qatari mediators, and CIA Director Bill Burns.

“The delegation went to gauge the differences and see how flexible Hamas is. They will report back and then determine Israel’s next steps,” an Israeli official told Axios.

“Everyone is coming to the table,” Kirby remarked. “That’s a significant development.”