A senior Biden Administration official blamed Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip, for the failure to reach and agreement to free the hostages Hamas has held in Gaza for more than 200 days since the massacre of October 7.
"It’s really down to one guy to accept the deal," the official told reporters, referring to Sinwar.
"Now if there are adjustments here and there that need to be made, of course we’re very much open to that and we would support that because we want to bring these people home,” the official said.
“There is a deal on the table that would bring a ceasefire immediately to Gaza, simply with the release of women, wounded, elderly and sick hostages, that is ready to go. And we have worked it out in meticulous detail, and Hamas has rejected that. And because of that, we still have fighting ongoing in Gaza,” he said.
He continued, "Sinwar has made the decision he’d rather hold [the hostages] rather than securing a ceasefire and that’s just the truth of the situation."
"Right now – and I think this is the view of the Egyptians and those who are very deeply involved in this – the answer that came back from inside Gaza was basically totally non-constructive.
"Now, I will say since then, we have had signals that “we didn’t mean to reject it” and this is coming from Hamas, and we’re actually ready to sit down again. But whether or not this is just stringing things out, or whether that’s something real, we’re gonna test that proposition here over the coming days," he said.
“As awful as this crisis is in so many different dimensions, there’s a core fundamental truth to it that Hamas is holding hostages, releasing videos of the hostages and refusing to let the hostages go back to their families, and if they would do that, this crisis will wind down. It’s just a very clear path,” the official said.
The administration official's statement was made as he briefed reporters on the joint statement by the US and 17 other countries calling for the release of all hostages held by Hamas.