The US special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, responded to a proposal from Hamas, stating that the terrorist organization’s offer was a “non-starter,” adding, “I spent close to seven and a half hours at the Arab Summit, we had really positive conversations there, I would have described it as a ‘game-changer’. We spent a good deal of time speaking about a bridge proposal that would see the release of five live hostages that would have included Eden Alexander. And also see the release of a substantial amount of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, which would be a wonderful thing for these Palestinian families.”
“I thought the proposal was compelling, the Israelis were informed about it and advised about it beforehand. After waiting for about two or three days for an answer from Hamas, which is their usual mode, we got a non-acceptable response. I’m not going to go into the specific details of what made it unacceptable, but it was totally unacceptable.”
“I believe they have an opportunity, but it is slipping away quickly. What happened with the Houthis yesterday, what happened with our strike, ought to inform as to where we stand with the regard to terrorism and our tolerance level for terrorist actions – and I would encourage Hamas to get much more sensible”
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2 Responses
they have an opportunity…” As Abba Eban said: they never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity…
Witkoff and Israel should not deal with Hamas. Instead they should announce that Gaza will not be rebuilt as long as Hamas doesn’t release all the hostages, give up its weapons and its leaders leave Gaza. That as things currently stand Gaza will remain destroyed and its people will be living in tents for years to come till this happens. This way Hamas understands there is no way they remain their long term, the people of Gaza understand they will be living in ruins as long as Hamas is there, and perhaps most importantly Hamas will not just be dealing with Israel but the entire Arab world will want them to release the hostages, give up their weapons and leave. Israel’s current approach which is to pressure Hamas itself by 1st cutting the entry of aid and electricity to escalating to using military force will not only not achieve its objectives because Hamas doesn’t care about the wellbeing of the people of Gaza, it will play into Hamas’ goals as they want nothing more than the world to see how Israel is starving the people of Gaza, how its using starvation as a weapon, which is a war crime, and will lead nowhere.