US slams Smotrich for opposing Gaza ceasefire deal: ‘Jeopardizing’ the hostages
In unusually blunt remarks, White House national security spokesman John Kirby says far-right minister should be ‘ashamed of himself’ after he denounced proposal as ‘dangerous trap’
Aug 10, 2024
The Biden administration will not allow “extremists,” including in Israel, to push Gaza ceasefire-hostage talks off course, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday and accused Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of making false claims.
Kirby said that Smotrich’s claims that a ceasefire deal would be a surrender to Hamas or that hostages should not be exchanged for prisoners are “dead wrong,” and said the far-right minister was misleading the Israeli public.
Kirby added that Smotrich “ought to be ashamed” for questioning the intentions of US President Joe Biden, saying “The idea that [Biden] would support a deal that leaves Israel’s security at risk is just factually wrong, it’s outrageous, it’s absurd.”
Kirby accused Smotrich of “jeopardizing” Israeli and US hostages who stand to be freed under the deal, in a position that “flies in the face of the national security interests of Israel at this critical stage of the war.”
“He’s saying this as President Biden is actually directing the United States military to the Middle East to directly defend Israel against a potential attack by Iran or other Iranian-backed terrorist groups,” Kirby said.
The United States and its allies have been trying to arrange a ceasefire-for-hostages deal for months but have consistently run into obstacles from both Israel and Hamas.
US officials believed the latest proposal is the closest the parties have been to an agreement to free women, sick and elderly hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7 in exchange for at least six weeks of ceasefire, the first phase in an envisioned three-stage deal for ending the war.
“We want to get a deal. We believe that it’s possible to do that … But it’s going to require some leadership on all sides here and some compromises,” Kirby told reporters.
Leaders of the United States, Egypt and Qatar on Thursday called on Israel and Hamas to meet for negotiations on August 15 to finalize a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal.
Smotrich denounced the proposal as creating a “delusional symmetry” between Israeli hostages and “despicable Jew-murdering terrorists” who would be freed.
“It is absolutely not the time for a dangerous trap where the ‘mediators’ dictate a ‘formula’ and impose a capitulating deal on us, which would squander the blood we shed in this most just war,” he said.
“His arguments are dead wrong,” Kirby responded.
While the criticism by the United States, Israel’s top ally, was unusually strong, Smotrich has frequently stirred international outrage with his remarks.
Earlier this week, he said it would be “justified and moral” to starve to death two million Gazans to free hostages but complained that the world would not let Israel do so.
The three countries, which have been trying to mediate a deal, said in a joint statement the talks could take place next week in either Doha or Cairo.
War broke out on October 7 when Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251.
It is believed that 111 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 24 hostages have also been recovered, including three abductees mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
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