U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not doing enough to secure a deal for the release of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas.
The U.S. was close to presenting a final proposal to negotiators working on a hostage and ceasefire agreement, he added.
I asked @POTUS if he thought @netanyahu was doing enough to secure a hostage deal. Biden responded: “No.” pic.twitter.com/q6vFYTLf7b
— Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) September 2, 2024
Biden was speaking to reporters at the White House after Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six hostages over the weekend, including 23-year-old American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, from a tunnel in Gaza. Israel’s military said they had been recently killed by Palestinian Hamas militants.
That has sparked criticism of the Biden administration’s Gaza ceasefire strategy and ratcheted up pressure on Netanyahu from Israelis to bring the remaining hostages home.
Asked whether he thought Netanyahu was doing enough to reach a hostage deal, Biden said “No.” He did not elaborate on his remarks, which drew a sharp response from senior Israeli sources.
Asked if he was planning to present a final hostage deal to both sides this week, Biden said: “We’re very close to that.”
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris also met with the U.S. hostage negotiation team, during which the president expressed “devastation and outrage” at the hostages’ murders,
and they discussed the next steps in efforts to free the remaining captives, the White House said.
The conflict has sown divisions among Democrats, with many progressives pressing Biden to restrict or at least place conditions on U.S. weapon supplies to Israel, Washington’s chief
Middle East ally.
Despite growing protests over his government’s failure to strike a deal for the hostages, Netanyahu is adamant that he will not stop till Hamas is totally crushed.
Senior Israeli sources said it was “remarkable” that Biden was pressuring Netanyahu over a hostage deal rather than Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Biden comes back from two weeks of vacation and the 1st thing he does is criticize Netanyahu for not doing enough for the hostages
Where is the criticism of Khamenei and Sinwar?
Meanwhile his admin has unfrozen Iranian funds and withholds weapons
— Shaun Maguire (@shaunmmaguire) September 2, 2024
They said Biden’s statement that Netanyahu was not doing enough was also dangerous because it came days after Hamas executed six hostages, including an American.
Asked about Biden’s comments, Netanyahu said the pressure should be applied to Hamas, not Israel, particularly after the death of the hostages.
“And now after this we’re asked to show seriousness? We’re asked to make concessions? What message does this send Hamas? It says, kill more hostages,” he said.
He said he did not believe Biden or anyone serious about achieving peace would ask Israel to make more concessions: “We’ve already made them. Hamas has to make the concession.”
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Biden’s criticism of Netanyahu was “American recognition that Netanyahu was responsible for undermining efforts to reach a deal.”
He said the group would respond positively to a proposal that could secure a permanent ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave.
Netanyahu, who has accused Hamas of obstructing any agreement, said over the weekend that “whoever murders hostages does not want a deal.”
(REUTERS)
