State of play: Hamas rejected the latest U.S. proposal on Sunday, blaming Netanyahu's hard lines.
- That was after the White House claimed significant progress was made during talks in Doha last week, and U.S. officials said President Biden wanted a deal by the end of the week.
- Blinken said during a visit to Israel on Monday that Netanyahu had accepted the U.S. proposal and it was now incumbent on Hamas to follow suit.
- That statement baffled some Israeli officials who told Axios that Netanyahu's hard lines are actually making a deal much harder to reach.
As for the "ceasfire deal" words mean nothing.
Zoom in: More specifically, Hamas objects to the fact that the proposal doesn't include a permanent ceasefire or comprehensive Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
- It would also not allow the free movement of civilians from southern Gaza to the north because it endorses Netanyahu's demand for control of the "Netzarim Corridor."
- The proposal would also give Israel control of the Rafah Crossing and the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border, as Netanyahu has demanded, per the Hamas statement.
- Hamas said Netanyahu also reversed previous concessions and set new conditions in the prisoner exchange process.
- "All this prevents the completion of the exchange deal," Hamas said.