Netanyahu Says Gaza Cease-Fire Deal Not Close as War Stretches On

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the state memorial for Ze'ev Jabotinsky, at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem on Aug. 4, 2024. Naama Grynbaum/Pool Photo via AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that negotiators aren’t close to reaching a cease-fire deal to end the Israel–Hamas war after 11 months of fighting.

Speaking with “Fox & Friends” on Sept. 5, Netanyahu said a claim that a cease-fire deal is about 90 percent complete is “exactly inaccurate.”

“There’s a story, a narrative out there, that there’s a deal out there. ... That’s just a false narrative,” he said.

The comments contrast with recent remarks from President Joe Biden and other members of his administration that a cease-fire deal is nearly complete. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during a July 19 talk with the Aspen Institute think tank, said that the deal was on “the 10-yard line.”

The United States, along with fellow intermediaries Egypt and Qatar, continued cease-fire talks in August. Hamas negotiators rebuffed those talks, arguing that the Israeli side was attempting to change the terms.

Netanyahu said Hamas—designated by the U.S. and Israeli governments as a terrorist organization—is to blame for the impasse.

“We agreed in July—and in May and July and in August—to a deal and to an American proposal,” the Israeli leader told Fox News.

“Hamas has consistently said no to every one of them. They don’t agree to anything. ”

Biden Admin Reaffirms Negotiations

Addressing the Israeli leader’s comments during a Sept. 5 press call, White House spokesman John Kirby said he believes that a deal is close.

“Ninety percent. Verge of a deal. You call that optimistic; I call that accurate. That’s how close we believe we are,” Kirby said.

National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby speaks to the media during a press briefing at the White House on April 15, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The White House spokesman said the overall framework for the cease-fire process is in place and that the remaining part amounts to “implementing details.” Among these details are how many Palestinian detainees Israel will release in each phase of the cease-fire framework in exchange for Hamas’s releasing hostages it took on Oct. 7, 2023.

Kirby acknowledged that there’s no guarantee that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar will accept an eventual deal but insisted that the Biden administration isn’t being overly optimistic.

“We'd rather get caught trying than not try at all. And we’re trying,” he said.

The Philadelphi Corridor

Hamas seeks to retain political control over the Gaza Strip, and its negotiators have insisted that all Israeli forces withdraw from the embattled territory.

Netanyahu has remained adamant throughout the war that his goals are to defeat Hamas and prevent it from again posing a threat to Israel from the Gaza Strip.

To prevent a Hamas resurgence, Netanyahu said Israeli forces must retain control of the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, a strip of land running north to south through the length of the Gaza Strip. Control of this corridor has been a sticking point in the recent talks.

Netanyahu has said that the Philadelphi Corridor could allow the Iranian government to smuggle arms to Hamas through Egypt, which borders the Gaza Strip to the south.

“We can’t let Iran resupply the terrorists in Gaza, and at the same time, we have to continue to put the pressure on Hamas. That’s where the pressure should be directed,” Netanyahu told Fox News on Sept. 5.

The Egyptian government, which has played an intermediary role in the recent cease-fire talks, has called for a concrete timeline for Israeli troops to leave the Philadelphi Corridor. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry also published a statement on Sept. 3 rebuffing Netanyahu for suggesting Egypt forms a weak link in the security framework.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), which established formal ties with Israel in the 2020 Abraham Accords, criticized the Israeli stance on the Philadelphi Corridor. In a Sept. 4 statement, the UAE Foreign Ministry praised Egypt’s efforts in the cease-fire negotiations and called for Israel to do more to de-escalate the ongoing Gaza conflict.

Hostage Killings

Israeli military forces recovered the remains of six hostages in the Gaza Strip over the weekend. The Israeli military stated that those six hostages were “brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before” the military reached them.

Demonstrators march during an anti-government protest amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sept. 3, 2024. Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images

The hostage killings have fueled renewed protests within Israel, with some advocates urging Netanyahu to accept a deal to win the release of around 100 captives still held by Hamas. Netanyahu has, so far, rejected this internal pressure.

“No one is more committed to freeing the hostages than me,” Netanyahu said in a public address on Sept. 2. “No one will preach to me on this issue.”

The Biden administration has said that these killings have colored the most recent background discussions surrounding the cease-fire framework.

During an officially organized press call on Sept. 4, a senior administration official said the Israeli side agreed to release about 800 Palestinian detainees, including “very significant prisoners” but that Hamas negotiators have been demanding further concessions and “threatening to execute more hostages.”

Speaking with Fox News on Sept. 5, Netanyahu said accepting the latest Hamas demands, after the hostage killings, would only incentivize more killings.

“To ask Israel to make concessions after this murder is to send a message to Hamas: ‘Murder more hostages, you’ll get more concessions,'” he said. “That’s the wrong thing to do.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article.