Ceasefire Prospects Still Not Good

Maintaining the US government’s positive thinking on prospects for a ceasefire, Antony Blinken said in Israel on Monday morning:

“This is a decisive moment …  it is probably the best, maybe the last opportunity
to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire, and to put everyone
on a better path to enduring peace and security.”

Benjamin Netanyahu met him for talks lasting three hours and issued a statement backing the latest US bridging proposal, which was put to Israel and Hamas at the end of last week’s negotiations in Doha. Netanyahu’s office said:

“The Prime Minister reiterated Israel’s commitment to the current American
proposal on the release of our hostages, which takes into account
Israel’s security needs, which he strongly insists on.”

But shortly before Monday’s meetings, Netanyahu did not share the US optimism. He was quoted as telling government ministers, “The chances are not high,” especially as Hamas were not present at last week’s talks.

Having received the new proposal from the mediators, Hamas rejected it on Sunday evening, saying it was too closely aligned with Netanyahu’s demands. He refuses to withdraw Israeli forces from Gaza, especially the Philadelphi Corridor bordering Egypt, two demands Hamas sees as vital for any agreement.

There are no signs that Hamas is willing to change its demands from anything other than victory over Israel.

In an interview with Jim Sciutto on CNN, a senior Hamas official reacted angrily to the questions. When asked whether Hamas regrets the October 7th terror attacks because of all the deaths that have resulted, he accused the interviewer of giving Israel permission to kill Palestinians.

He refused to answer the question of whether Hamas accepts any responsibility for the deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, when it uses them as human shields. And then he simply tried to shout down whatever the interviewer said before hanging up on the connection.

The prospects for negotiations are clearly not good. They may never have been good.