White House nationwide safety communications adviser John Kirby stated Sunday that the United States stays looking forward to “six weeks of peace” with a hostage deal that “Hamas has not fully rejected.”
Speaking with host George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week,” Kirby stated Israel assured the Biden administration that the Jewish state is not going to launch a marketing campaign within the closing Hamas terrorist stronghold of Rafah within the Gaza Strip “until we’ve had a chance to really share our perspectives and our concerns with them.”
“If we’re able to get this hostage deal in place, we are still working at that. Hamas has not fully rejected it,” Kirby stated. “They are considering this proposal on the table. If we can get that in place, then that gives you six weeks of peace. It gives you no fighting for six weeks, and that includes no fighting in Rafah. And what we’re hoping is that after six weeks of a temporary cease-fire, we can maybe get something more enduring in place.”
Hamas stated Saturday it was reviewing a brand new Israeli proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza as Egypt intensified efforts to dealer a deal to finish the months-long struggle and stave off a deliberate Israeli floor offensive within the southern metropolis of Rafah. Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya gave no particulars of Israel’s provide however stated it was in response to a Hamas proposal two weeks in the past, the Associated Press reported.
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Negotiations this month centered round a six-week cease-fire proposal and the discharge of 40 civilian and sick hostages in change for releasing tons of of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
A separate Hamas assertion stated leaders from the three fundamental militant teams energetic in Gaza mentioned makes an attempt to finish the struggle, which started on Oct. 7 after Hamas launched a bloody incursion into southern Israel and killed some 1,200 individuals. It did not point out the Israeli proposal. The assertion got here hours after an Egyptian delegation ended a go to to Israel the place it mentioned a “new vision” for a chronic cease-fire in Gaza, in keeping with an Egyptian official, who spoke on situation of anonymity to the AP.
Kirby additionally addressed the deliberate deliveries of help to circulate into Gaza from an offshore pier now underneath development by the U.S. army.
“The Israelis have started to meet the commitments that President Biden asked them to meet,” Kirby stated. “This pier is now being constructed. It will take probably two to three weeks before we can really see it in operation. I mean, it’s a fairly complicated procedure to get that in place. And we’re working closely with the Israelis about how the operation of the pier would work.”
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Stephanopoulos additionally pressed Kirby on the anti-Israel protests festering with antisemitism unfolding at American faculty campuses – and particularly about bringing in police to interrupt up demonstrations.
“The president knows that there are very strong feelings, George, about the war in Gaza,” Kirby stated. “He understands that, he respects that. And as he has said many times, we certainly respect the right of peaceful protest. People should have the ability to air their views and to share their perspectives publicly. But it has to be peaceful. We’ll leave it to local authorities to determine how these protests are managed.”
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“But we want them to be peaceful protests,” he added. “And obviously, we don’t want to see anybody hurt in the process of peacefully protesting. But again, the president understands that. We absolutely condemn the antisemitism language that we’ve heard of late, and we certainly condemn all the hate speech and the threats of violence out there in these protests. We understand they’re important, but they do need to be peaceful.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.