‘Take it or leave it’ – Biden to present Israel, Hamas with final offer on Gaza ceasefire deal

The White House is reportedly preparing a final ‘take it or leave it’ proposal to Israel and Hamas in a last-ditch effort to secure a ceasefire deal – and walk away from talks if it fails to achieve a breakthrough.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

The Biden administration is preparing a final offer for a hostage deal and Gaza ceasefire, to be presented to Hamas and Israel as a last-ditch effort to achieve a breakthrough in negotiations that have failed since last December to secure a second truce, according to a report published Sunday.

Multiple Biden administration officials told The Washington Post that the White House is currently drafting a “take it or leave it” proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, after the remains of six Israeli hostages – including one with American citizenship – were recovered by IDF forces from a tunnel in Rafah.

According to Israeli forensics examinations of the six, the captives were shot in the head and killed no earlier than 48 hours before their discovery.

The killings have fueled renewed pressure within Israel on the Netanyahu government to compromise with Hamas in order to reach a deal to return the remaining captives, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow to maintain Israeli control over key strategic positions in Gaza – a position formally adopted by the security cabinet last Thursday.

The Biden White House believes popular frustration sparked by the killings could induce Jerusalem to soften its position, and enable the two sides to reach an agreement.

“You can’t keep negotiating this. This process has to be called at some point,” one senior official was quoted as saying, adding that the murder of the six hostages provided “urgency” in the “closing phase” or negotiations.

“Does it derail the deal? No. If anything, it should add additional urgency in this closing phase, which we were already in.”

The Israeli embassy in Washington declined to comment on the report, while former U.S. envoy Dennis Ross said that the Biden administration is unable to pressure Hamas to reach a compromise, and that the prospects of reaching a deal rest largely on Israel’s position.

“For now, [Sinwar] will wait to see whether the general strike in Israel leads to a softening of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s conditions,” Ross said in an interview. “The strike, the likely massive protest, is in support of the hostage families and their view that Netanyahu’s strategy both in the negotiations and increasing IDF increase pressure on Hamas has failed.”

Israel’s Histadrut labor union, which represents some 800,000 workers, declared a one-day general strike Monday in order to pressure the government to reach a compromise deal with Hamas.