Dec. 27 (UPI) — Negotiations between Israel and Hamas to implement a Gaza cease-fire and free the remaining Israelis held hostage there remained stalled Friday as the White House laid blame on the Palestinian militants.
Israeli media cited unnamed senior officials claiming Hamas has yet to provide lists of living hostages and that its negotiators are raising new demands, leading some in Jerusalem to believe they do not necessarily control the hostages’ fates on the ground.
“Hamas needs to make a choice and open the door to finalizing the deal,” one Israeli official told Ynetnews.com, while i24NEWS reported that is Hamas is now demanding “special compensation” for the release of wounded hostages.
The changing demands are raising suspicions among negotiators that physical control of the hostages has fractured in the wake of the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, making it “extremely complicated” to manage the talks.
In Washington on Friday, White House national security spokesman John Kirby pointed the finger at Hamas for the stalled talks but indicated he remained optimistic that a deal could be worked out before President Joe Biden leaves office.
“It is because of Hamas throwing up obstacles or refusing to move on any of these details that we are still not at a conclusion,” Kirby told reporters, according to Politico. “But we believe, as [national security adviser] Jake [Sullivan] has said, we’re very, very close, and so we’re not going to give up.”
About 100 hostages remain Hamas captives 448 days after the bloody Hamas surprise assault against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, though many are thought to be dead. Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told a closed-door meeting of his war Cabinet in September that intelligence services believe only half are still alive.
