Israeli officials said Monday that Biden administration officials had secretly worked with mediators, without Israel’s knowledge, to craft a Hamas “agreement” to ceasefire terms in an attempt to deter an attack on Hamas in Rafah.
On Monday, as Breitbart News reported, with Israel beginning its operation in Rafah by warning civilians to leave, Hamas suddenly announced that it agreed to a “ceasefire” — on unfamiliar terms that Israel had not actually offered.
Israel, regarding the move as a bluff aimed at the international media in an attempt to pressure Israel to abandon the operation, decided to send junior-level diplomats to Cairo, Egypt, to explore talks, while continuing to fight in Rafah.
The White House seized on the announcement of an agreement by Hamas, though it would not say (or speculate) what was in the agreement itself, puzzling reporters.
Barak Ravid of Axios.com reported (original emphasis):
Israeli officials claim the Biden administration knew about the latest hostage and ceasefire deal proposal Egypt and Qatar negotiated with Hamas, but didn’t brief Israel before Hamas announced it accepted it on Monday. A senior U.S. official pushed back saying “American diplomats have been engaged with Israeli counterparts. There have been no surprises.”
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When the Israelis read Hamas’ response, they were surprised to see it contained “many new elements” that were not part of the previous proposal that Israel agreed on and that was presented to Hamas by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar ten days ago, the officials said.
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The officials claimed CIA director Bill Burns and other Biden administration officials who are involved in the negotiations knew about the new proposal but didn’t tell Israel.
The Times of Israel later confirmed Ravid’s reporting in Axios.
The Biden administration has publicly opposed an Israeli attack on Rafah for months, ostensibly to protect civilians but also likely to preserve Hamas as leverage to compel Israel to accept a two-state solution as an outcome of the war.
The sticking points in negotiations on a ceasefire and hostage deal are that Israel refuses to agree to end the war, and Hamas is trying to have dead bodies count toward the total of 33 hostages to be released in the first stage of a truce.
Israeli spokesman David Mencer declined to comment on these reports on Tuesday. However, he said Hamas’s claim had been one of desperation. “What you saw last night was Hamas trying to save its skin, but it won’t work.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.