Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday that Hamas remains the obstacle to a hostage deal because the terrorist group is insisting on an “unacceptable” clause that would force Israel to end the war.
The clause would not just end the current conflict, which began when Hamas launched a massive terror attack on Israel on October 7, but would apparently prevent Israel from attacking Hamas if it violated the terms of the deal.
The Times of Israel reported:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says Hamas is continuing to insist in the hostage talks that a clause be included barring Israel from resuming fighting after phase one of the deal.
Israel sought to maintain a clause in its previous proposal that was written vaguely enough so as to allow it to resume fighting if it deems that Hamas is not abiding by the terms of the agreement.
…
“Hamas continues to insist on a principle clause in the outline that would prevent Israel from resuming fighting after phase one of the deal — something that is unacceptable to Israel,” says a statement attributed to a senior Israeli security official that Netanyahu’s office sent to Israeli diplomatic correspondents.
It is now universally agreed — including by the Biden administration, which has been pressuring Israel to reach a deal — that Hamas is the obstacle to an agreement to free the 120 remaining hostages, many of whom are still alive.
Israel’s war goals are to free the hostages, destroy Hamas, and ensure Gaza is never a threat to Israel again. Hamas’s goal is simply to survive, and then to declare victory — which the objectionable clause would allow them to do.
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.