We reported on Monday about the supposed Hamas "agreement" to the ceasefire deal.
As we noted this came, just as Israel was starting their move on Rafah, planning on finishing them off. So naturally it looked like a last-minute desperate play to hold off the attack by Israel with something that wasn't real.
Hamas Says They've Agreed to a Ceasefire Deal, But They Forgot to Run It Past Israel First
Despite Hamas' Last-Minute Subterfuge, Israel War Cabinet Greenlights Rafah Operation
As it turned out, what they were "agreeing" to wasn't the deal that had been on the table, but what appeared to be an essentially new deal that Israel hadn't agreed to when Hamas made the announcement. So then Israel had to be the ones to say hey, no, this isn't what we were doing, and appear to be the people rejecting the deal.
What makes it worse was that according to a report on the backstory, Israeli officials said the U.S. knew about the "deal" ahead of time, but didn't tell Israel.
As our sister site, Townhall, explained, "Biden dispatched CIA Director William Burns to hash out a last-minute attempt to get a ceasefire agreement done, but the way it was handled was a total circus."
Axios detailed how much of a train wreck it was. Three Israeli officials said that they didn't receive the text of the group's response from the mediators until an hour after Hamas released its statement and that it contained "many new elements" that were not in the original proposal.
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 Israeli officials also said the last touches on the proposal were made on Monday morning in Doha with the Biden administration's knowledge.
- On Monday morning, Burns spoke on the phone with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, a source with knowledge of the call said. But when Hamas released its statement the Israeli minister was also surprised.
- Two Israeli officials said the feeling is that "Israel got played" by the U.S. and the mediators who drafted "a new deal" and weren't transparent about it.
It looks like the Biden team was trying to cobble together something at the last minute, whether they kept Israel in the loop or not and essentially tried to save Hamas. Israel is also suspicious that the Biden team is giving guarantees to Hamas that the war will end if they give up the hostages, which is something that Israel doesn't want to commit to, since they want to end Hamas now. This is the time. Their "end of the war" point is finishing Hamas. U.S. officials are saying they didn't give any guarantees, but they are hoping a ceasefire can lead to the end of the war.
What a mess. But this is typical Joe Biden. Anything he and his team touch seems to just implode into total disaster. Add that to the reports of them throwing Israel under the bus by holding up arms that Congress had approved to go to Israel.