US President Joe Biden’s effort to broker a cease-fire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas has suffered a setback. US officials are reassessing their strategy after initially planning to present a “take it or leave it” proposal.
The deal, which involved Israel releasing Palestinian militants serving life sentences in exchange for Hamas freeing Israeli soldiers, hit a roadblock this week. Hamas added a demand that civilian hostages must also be exchanged for long-term prisoners, which US officials described as a “poison pill.”
The cease-fire proposal also included an IDF withdrawal from Gaza’s densely populated areas within the first 42 days. However, a disagreement arose over whether the Philadelphi Corridor — a nine-mile border stretch between Gaza and Egypt — should be included in the withdrawal.
Israel offered to reduce its military presence in the Philadelphi Corridor, which the US official said was “technically consistent” with the deal. However, Hamas rejected this new condition, which wasn’t part of Israel’s original May proposal.
