White House national security spokesman John Kirby deemed the leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, “the major obstacle” to achieving a cease-fire deal in recent weeks.
During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Kirby responded to The Wall Street Journal’s reporting that senior U.S. officials who hoped for months for a cease-fire and hostage release deal now do not expect Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement before the end of President Biden’s term. The report cited administration officials as saying Hamas makes demands and “then refuses to say ‘yes’ after the U.S. and Israel accept them.”
“It’s certainly apparent to us that Mr. Sinwar remains the big obstacle here to getting a deal. And it certainly is the case that he has done nothing in the recent weeks to prove that he’s willing to move this forward in a good faith way. He is the major obstacle, no question about it,” Kirby said Sunday. “It’s tough to get them to say yes to things that he’s already said that he wanted. So it’s very, very difficult.”
“But as the president said the other day, everything’s unrealistic until all of a sudden it’s not anymore. And we’re gonna keep trying at this,” Kirby added. “And this idea that we’re just throwing up our hands and ‘well, it’s not gonna happen before the end of the term,’ I can tell ya that’s not where the president is. It’s not where Jake Sullivan or Tony Blinken are. We still believe that there’s a possibility of moving this forward, and we’re gonna keep trying. Those hostages need an effort to get them home. We’re not going to give up on that.”
ISRAEL SAYS IT CONDUCTED RETALIATORY STRIKES AGAINST HEZBOLLAH IN LEBANON, STRUCK HAMAS IN GAZA
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Kirby reiterated the administration’s position that Israel has a right to defend itself, but acknowledged that some of the criticism of how Israel is handling the conflict has come from the Biden administration as well.
“They absolutely have a right to defend themselves. And we are still providing them the tools and capabilities to do that. But how they do it matters,” Kirby said. “President Biden has said that, Vice President Harris has said that to our Israeli counterparts. They need to be doing it in as precise and as discriminant a way to avoid damage to civilian infrastructure and more critically, to civilian life. So it does…
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