On Monday’s broadcast of “CNN Newsroom,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) said that President Joe Biden “is starting to say that he’s going to reveal some of those other things and who he believes is at fault or preventing a ceasefire here” and “Hamas may have some responsibility and Netanyahu has some responsibility.”
Meeks said, “I know that the President has been having some tough languages and tough words with the prime minister, behind the scenes, for a while, and things that have not been necessarily reported and some that are still classified, but there has to be continued pressure. And we heard Secretary Blinken say, recently, that, if something didn’t happen soon, he and the President will start talking about who is at fault, on both sides, whether Hamas, or in this case, the prime minister. So, I think that what you hear is the President’s frustration coming out, and, as opposed to having some of those negotiations and those talks that were taking place behind the scenes, it seems to me that the President is starting to say that he’s going to reveal some of those other things and who he believes is at fault or preventing a ceasefire here, whether it — on both sides, Hamas may have some responsibility and Netanyahu has some responsibility.”
Meeks added that we must ensure that “Hamas does not continue the threat that it poses to the American people and to the Israelis, as well as to the Palestinians, and Hamas cannot govern in Gaza. So, that’s all part of these negotiations that [are] taking place.”
He concluded, “I think that we’re getting close to the point where the President will be able to discuss, more openly, exactly where we are and who is withholding an agreement, whichever side that is. So, I can’t say more than that, based upon how I was briefed on this, but I think that we need to get all that information out.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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