On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that there was “not a deal in the making” regarding a potential ceasefire deal with Hamas and rejected a US assessment that an agreement was 90% of the way there.
When asked on Fox News about the 90% assessment, Netanyahu said, “No, it’s exactly inaccurate. There’s a story, a narrative out that there’s a deal out there … that’s just a false narrative.”
Later in the day, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was confronted about why the US assessments have been so far off base with Netanyahu. “I’ve heard what the prime minister said. I’m not going to get into a back and forth with him in a public setting,” he said.
Kirby doubled down on the assessment that a deal was 90% the way there. “So, first of all, ’90 percent,’ ‘verge of a deal’ — you call that optimistic, I call that accurate. That’s how close we believe we are,” he said.
Over the past few months, US officials have been constantly claiming a ceasefire deal is close while Netanyahu has been working to sabotage the chances of an agreement, a fact that’s been widely reported by Israeli media.
Netanyahu continues to insist he won’t give up Israeli control of the Gaza-Egypt border, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, despite Israeli negotiators and military officials not thinking it’s a necessary condition.