(TargetDailyNews.com) – President Biden’s claims of a rapidly approaching ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas war seem to have been based on absolutely nothing at all. Multiple parties have confirmed to The New York Times that while talks are ongoing there’s no new deal on the table, and currently, both sides have rejected what’s been discussed.
Biden expressed his hopes that a deal would be reached in early March during impromptu comments he gave as he licked an ice cream cone at an ice cream parlor on Monday, February 26th. Biden said that he anticipated a deal “by the end of the weekend” during his pit stop for ice cream.
Over the following days multiple representatives from Hamas, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested otherwise. Hamas spokesman Ahmad Abdelhadi said that the current terms are unacceptable “because it does not fulfill our demands.” Even more curious are comments from another Hamas representative Basem Naim, who indicated that there have been no “new proposals” in the wake of Biden’s claim.
Qatari Foreign Ministry representative Majew al-Ansari said that while regular meetings were ongoing, there is no timeline for the negotiations nor any firm agreements on terms that would suggest a ceasefire is close.
Israel has also announced its intention to siege the city of Rafah in the south of Gaza where it believes the last remnants of Hamas are still hiding. The city has a network of tunnels underneath its streets and is currently housing 1.5 million refugees from other parts of the strip. Israel had encouraged noncombatants to flee to the south and is now planning to attack the same location.
Netanyahu said that they’re going to attack Rafah whether there’s a deal in place or not, and any deal they agree to would account for that. He said that a deal may delay their attack, but they’re anticipating an assault regardless.
The conflict has been ongoing since Hamas launched a surprise attack last October, killing approximately 1200 people and taking a further 250 hostage. Israel retaliated by declaring war with a promise to eradicate Hamas. There have been roughly 30,000 deaths and double as many injuries in Gaza according to the Palestinian Health Authority.
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