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US official says Hamas ‘chose war’, timeline tells a different story
The US has laid the blame for Israel’s surprise attacks on Gaza, which have killed more than 300 people, on Hamas.
White House National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes told The Times of Israel that “Hamas could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire, but instead chose refusal and war”.
Hamas, however, complied with all terms of phase one of the ceasefire agreement that was signed with Israel on January 17, with Egypt and Qatar as mediators, and the US as guarantor.
In fact, it has been Israel, backed by the Trump administration, that has refused to move to phase two of the agreement.
When the US proposed, through hostage envoy Adam Boehler, that Hamas release an Israeli-American prisoner and the bodies of four captives, Hamas agreed on the grounds that phase two of the ceasefire be implemented. Israel rejected the proposal.
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff then presented an initiative where Hamas would release half of the living and the remains of half of the captives that have died in exchange for 50 days of ceasefire extension. The US refused to include moving to the second phase of the ceasefire in that proposal.
Netanyahu’s testimony in corruption trial postponed due to fighting in Gaza: Report
Israel’s Maariv newspaper is reporting that the prosecution has agreed to a request to cancel the Israeli prime minister’s testimony in a corruption trial against him, due to “security developments”.
According to Maariv, Netanyahu had asked for his testimony on Tuesday to be cancelled, hours after the Israeli prime minister oversaw renewed attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu, who is facing allegations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, had appeared before the court on Monday in one of three long-delayed cases that he has described as a political “witch-hunt”.
Captives could have been freed weeks ago through talks, but Israel chose to restart Gaza war
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office is placing bringing back the captives as the main reason why they decided to attack the Gaza Strip.
But it is worth mentioning that Israel itself had decided to remove itself from the negotiations for phase two of this deal that would ultimately see an end to the war and the release of all 59 Israeli captives still being held in Gaza.
Those negotiations were supposed to happen weeks ago, in fact, more than one month ago. But Netanyahu has largely refused to send a delegation to the Egyptian capital or the Qatari capital to meet with mediators to discuss what can be done for the next phase of the deal.
However, after American pressure, followed by a visit from the US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to the region, Netanyahu did finally decide to send an Israeli delegation but those officials who have been speaking anonymously said that the gaps that were there to bridge were so wide, there was so much disagreement between Israel and Hamas that mediators could not simply bridge those gaps.
However, Hamas had said that they were willing, again, to offer all of their remaining captives in exchange for an end to the war.
A man walks through the rubble of a destroyed section of a school-turned-camp following an Israeli strike in Gaza City on March 18
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