‘Was The White House Surprised?’: Kirby Peppered With Questions About Hamas Agreeing To Ceasefire

6 months ago

During a White House press briefing on Monday, Admiral John Kirby was asked about Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire deal from Egypt & Qatar and the Israeli plan in Rafah.

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00:00 Picking up on the timeline, so prior to Hamas saying that they accepted this proposal, what,

00:08 as you understood them to be, were the sticking points for either Hamas or the Israelis in

00:14 the deal that had been on the table?

00:15 I'm not going to get into that.

00:16 Okay.

00:17 Did it involve Rafa in any way?

00:20 I'm not going to talk about the parameters of the proposal that was worked before this

00:26 Hamas response, and I'm certainly not going to talk about the response right now.

00:29 I mean, I do understand the curiosity, and you guys are all asking exactly the right

00:33 questions, all very fair, but I really do hope you understand that the last thing I

00:37 would ever want to do from this podium is say something that could put this very sensitive

00:41 process at greater risk.

00:42 We are at a critical stage right now.

00:45 We got a response from Hamas.

00:47 Now Director Burns is working through that, trying to assess it, working with the Israelis.

00:51 I mean, my goodness, folks, I don't know that it gets any more sensitive than right now,

00:55 and the worst thing that we can do is start speculating about what's in it.

00:58 And one more thing on Rafa.

00:59 What was your understanding why the Israelis were only evacuating part of Rafa at this

01:05 time?

01:06 You'd have to talk to the Israelis.

01:07 Go ahead, Dan.

01:08 Thanks, Karine.

01:09 Thanks, Admiral.

01:10 You've previously said several times that the ball is in the court of Hamas, previous

01:14 stages of negotiations.

01:15 Would it be fair to say now that the ball is in Israel's court?

01:19 It's going to depend on what the response actually says and the conversations that we

01:23 have with the Israelis about what – where we go from here.

01:26 And just one other thing, if I can ask.

01:28 I mean, do you have any sense that Israel is currently using this threat or the start

01:34 of an operation in Rafa as a means of putting pressure on Hamas at this stage of the negotiation?

01:39 Again, you'd have to talk to the Israelis about their intentions.

01:41 Frank.

01:42 You said that they – that you did not know the news during the call, but were you surprised

01:48 by – was the White House surprised by Hamas saying that they have reached a deal or agreeing

01:55 to the agreement?

01:56 We had a heads-up about it.

01:59 We knew that, as I said publicly, they had a proposal in front of them.

02:04 And as was just – I was just reminded of the fact that I've said many times, it was

02:09 – the ball was in Hamas's court.

02:11 So we certainly knew that they had it before them and we were waiting on word.

02:17 We had hoped that there would be word very, very soon.

02:21 We certainly hoped that there could be word today.

02:24 But did we know the exact moment that al-Jazeera was able to break the news that Hamas had

02:29 a response?

02:30 No, we didn't predict that particular moment.

02:31 Are you encouraged that they're – that you are at this sensitive point?

02:36 You've been talking about it's a very sensitive point, it's important.

02:38 We'll be encouraged when we get a deal in place and we can start seeing hostages get

02:43 back with their families.

02:44 That'll be encouraging.

02:45 And if I can, what role, if any, do you feel like the leaflets and the pressure of evacuation

02:51 or the announcement of evacuating, do you think that had any role in triggering Hamas

02:57 to do that?

02:58 I don't think we know that.

02:59 John, can you talk a little bit about the timeline, as the administration understands

03:03 it, of those evacuations?

03:05 How much time do people have to leave?

03:08 Did you guys put any demands on the Israelis in terms of how those evacuations are to take

03:12 place under the parameters that you guys have talked about?

03:15 We're asking questions of the Israelis about what their intentions are here and what the

03:20 larger purpose of this evacuation is and sort of where they're wanting to go.

03:26 I think to answer your question, though, you'd really have to go to the Israelis and to speak

03:30 to their military operations and plans.

03:32 I'm not going to get ahead of that.

03:34 But are we curious about the timing and the intent and where they're going?

03:39 Yes, absolutely.

03:40 And the President expressed our curiosity about that on the call today.

03:44 But more than curiosity, are you expressing what you want to see happen in terms of those

03:49 evacuations, how they take place, whether Israel is prepared for people moving around

03:53 within the --

03:54 I would just say, again, without – I don't want to get ahead of operations that haven't

03:58 happened.

03:59 I don't want to speak for the Israeli military.

04:01 I can just say that we don't want to see operations in and around Rafa that make it harder for

04:11 the people that are seeking refuge there and shelter to be safe and secure.

04:16 And we have made that case privately to the Israelis.

04:21 The President did it again today with the prime minister of Directly.

04:24 We certainly made it publicly.

04:26 We've been very, very consistent about that.

‘Was The White House Surprised?’: Kirby Peppered With Questions About Hamas Agreeing To Ceasefire

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