It’s just been reported that Joe Biden is going to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and will pressure him to be more flexible in negotiations so they can achieve a ceasefire deal.
Here’s the reporting:
President Biden is expected to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and urge him to show more flexibility so a hostage-release and ceasefire deal can be reached in Gaza, a source with knowledge of the call told Axios.
Their conversation is expected to focus on a new demand from Netanyahu that Israel Defense Forces stay deployed along the Philadelphi corridor on the Egypt-Gaza border to prevent weapons from being smuggled to Hamas from Egypt.
Israeli negotiators and U.S. officials say Netanyahu’s new demand about the corridor has turned into a significant hurdle for a possible deal. Biden wants Netanyahu to soften his position on the issue.
Israeli, Egyptian and U.S. officials met in Cairo on Sunday and Monday to discuss the Philadelphi corridor.
On Netanyahu’s orders, the Israeli side presented a map that showed Israel reducing some of its forces but still deploying them all along the corridor, the Israeli officials said. A map of where the IDF will remain in Gaza is part of the negotiations for the deal.
The Egyptians rejected that plan and the U.S. told Israel the map was a non-starter, Israeli and U.S. officials said.
Netanyahu said he told Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday that he demands the IDF stay in control of the entire Philadelphi corridor. He also told families of the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza that he might have convinced Blinken to agree.
State Department officials pushed back and said Blinken wasn’t convinced and stressed the U.S. doesn’t agree with Netanyahu on this issue.
Israel must maintain their security after what happened on October 7 and this demand is non-negotiable in my opinion. And it’s not a new demand, by the way. Israel has maintained for some time that their security forces must remain in Gaza and at the Philadelphia corridor.
But by calling it a ‘new demand’, they make it sound like Netanyahu is the problem here. No, Hamas is the problem! Israel is finding dead bodies of innocent Jewish civilians who were taken hostage by Hamas and yet Israel is continually being asked to sacrifice more for a ceasefire.
How about Biden send a strong message to the leader of Hamas and demand he release the hostages and surrender to Israel. But he won’t do that because he’s a coward.