State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dissolution of the War Cabinet does not change the Biden administration’s “fundamental assessment” of the war in Gaza, CNN reported.
Miller would not comment specifically on the dissolution of the War Cabinet, saying “ultimately, those decisions are decisions for the government of Israel and for the people of Israel.”
He also would not offer his assessment on what the dissolution of the War Cabinet might mean for US discussions on the ceasefire proposal, conversations around which continue with the governments of Israel, Qatar, and Egypt.
“We’ll continue to have the very direct and candid conversations with members of the Israeli government, as we have for some time,” he told reporters, according to CNN, adding that the US would continue to have those discussions “with whatever government is in place in Israel.”
The US has in recent weeks been pushing for a ceasefire and hostage release deal which was outlined by President Biden.
According to the proposal outlined by Biden, the first phase of the three-phase process would last for six weeks and would include a full and complete ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza, and the release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian Arab prisoners.
Phase two would see the release of all remaining living hostages, while phase three would encompass "a major reconstruction plan for Gaza," said the President, as well as the repatriation of the remains of deceased hostages to their families.
Hamas gave its official response to the proposal last week. A senior Israeli official said Israel had received Hamas’ response and added that the terrorist organization rejected Biden’s proposal.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Saturday that mediators for Qatar and Egypt plan to engage Hamas soon to see if there is a way to push ahead with the proposal.
He also told reporters that US officials have taken a close look at Hamas' response.
"We think some of the edits are not unexpected and can be managed. Some of them are inconsistent both with what President Biden laid out and what the UN Security Council endorsed. And we are having to deal with that reality," said Sullivan.