Why a Gaza Strip Ceasefire Is So Elusive
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel called Hamas’ response to the latest peace proposal for the Gaza Strip “negative.” Hamas insisted it was dealing with it “positively.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking in Qatar, said Hamas had demanded changes, some of which were “workable” and some not. A Hamas official told an Arabic television channel that the group had not raised any new ideas, and that Blinken saw things through an Israeli lens and “speaks Hebrew.”
The Biden administration has pledged to keep working with Qatari and Egyptian mediators to bridge the gaps. But after days of intensive diplomacy in the region, a monthslong effort to end the war in Gaza seems as stuck as ever, as each side clings stubbornly to maximalist demands unacceptable to the other.
Asked at the Group of 7 summit meeting in Italy if he still thought a deal could be reached, President Joe Biden said, “I haven’t lost hope, but it’s going to be tough.”
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