White House National Security spokesman John Kirby on Sunday blamed Hamas for delaying negotiations aimed at securing a hostage-ceasefire deal, while also calling for a diplomatic solution amid rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
In an interview with ABC’s “This Week,” Kirby said, “It doesn’t appear that Mr. [Yahya] Sinwar is prepared at all to keep negotiating in good faith, especially after he murdered six hostages in a tunnel, execution style.” Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, has been at the center of ceasefire negotiations. Kirby’s comments refer to the IDF’s recovery of six hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7, whose bodies were discovered in a tunnel in southern Gaza’s Rafah area earlier this month. The hostages were executed shortly before being found, according to reports.
Kirby further emphasized Hamas’s role in stalling negotiations, saying, “It doesn’t appear as if he’s willing to move this forward.” Despite the deteriorating situation, he expressed the White House’s stance that regional military escalation is not in Israel’s best interest, underscoring the need for diplomacy. “We’re saying this directly to our Israeli counterparts,” Kirby noted.
“The tensions are much higher now than they were even just a few days ago,” Kirby said, referencing the ongoing rocket fire from Hezbollah that reached Kiryat Bialik, near Haifa, overnight. The attack left a building in flames, vehicles incinerated, and significant damage caused by shrapnel. However, Kirby remained hopeful for a non-military resolution, adding, “We still believe that there can be time and space for a diplomatic solution here, and that’s what we’re working on.”
“We’ve been working since the beginning of this conflict, October 8th and on, to try to prevent an escalation, to prevent a broadening of this conflict there in and around Israel, but also in the region,” he said. “An escalating war is certainly not going to be in the best interest of all those people that Prime Minister Netanyahu says he wants to be able to send back home.”
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since YWN of which I read is of American Soil……my feelings are the same as it is for all Americans…..have you watched the many who think those outside Israel can save their poverty, in you come taking a slice more of their income time schools and jobs…..shame on you….that is for YWN as well…….