In what seems to be a quite belated realization and perhaps because the Biden administration is losing hope that it will pull off a hostage deal that it can tout as a major accomplishment amid an election period, it is now “questioning whether Hamas even wants a deal.”

In a change from his usual tactic of blaming Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the lack of a deal, Axios reporter Barad Ravid, who is viewed as a mouthpiece for the Biden administration, reported on Thursday that Biden and his top advisers “were shocked” after Hamas murdered six hostages and have “started to rethink the way forward in the negotiations over the deal.”

“We still think the deal is the only way to save the lives of the hostages and stop the war. But the executions not only increased our sense of urgency but also called into question Hamas’ willingness to do a deal of any kind,” a U.S. official said.

According to the report, one of the main arguments made during a meeting of President Biden, Vice President Harris and their national security team on Monday, was that in the wake of the murder of the hostages, including an American, the US should apply more pressure on Hamas instead of advancing a proposal that grants the terror group additional concessions.

Another concern that was raised is that the US could pressure Israel to reduce IDF forces on the Philadelphi Corridor or regarding other issues, and then discover that Hamas refuses to agree to other parts of the deal. But the new proposal with further Israeli concessions to Hamas would then become the new foundation for future negotiations.

A US official said that the issue of control over the Philadelphi Corridor is not the only sticking point. Hamas has backtracked from its previous position regarding the number of Palestinian terrorists to be released, including many serving life sentences for murdering Israelis, and are now demanding a higher number.

“We had a very frustrating process around that in Doha last week. Hamas presented demands that were different from what was agreed on in the past,” a U.S. official said.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)