State Department Spokesperson Grilled On Gaza Peace Plan: ‘Has The Proposal Reached Hamas?’

3 months ago

During a press briefing on Tuesday, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller answered reporter questions on the Gaza peace plan.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you, Matt. There are reports that... I didn't mean to call on you if you didn't have your hand up.

00:04Oh no, I did. I was just going along the front row.

00:07There are reports that the CIA director and Brett McGurk are heading back to the region

00:10in furtherance of potential hostage and ceasefire talks.

00:13Do you expect that the Secretary will engage in in-person diplomacy in the region as well?

00:18So the Secretary has been engaged, as I discussed in my opening comments

00:22and as I discussed yesterday, in a number of phone conversations with partners in the region

00:27over the past, now four days, since Friday's announcement.

00:30And he will be traveling to Europe, leaving tonight, to join the President for his trip to Normandy

00:36and then a bilateral visit with France.

00:38And I don't have any further travel to announce beyond that.

00:41Okay. And I know you said that there has been no response received as yet from Hamas.

00:47Is it known from either Egyptian or Qatari interlocutors

00:50whether the proposal has actually reached G.I. Asanwar for his evaluation,

00:54even if a response hasn't come back?

00:56I don't know an answer to that question.

00:58Okay. Have we—

00:59I just—I don't believe we know.

01:01Okay. On aid, you mentioned yesterday that there were constructive discussions that took place in Cairo.

01:08Obviously, a number of international aid groups have been raising alarms

01:11that the situation is dire and getting worse by the day.

01:14So where do efforts to reopen Rafa stand, and what is the broader aid picture

01:20in terms of what the U.S. is facilitating on a daily basis?

01:23So with respect to the opening of Rafa, there were conversations over the weekend in Cairo

01:28between the United States, Israel, and the government of Egypt

01:33that focused on how to get Rafa open.

01:35We found there to be constructive discussions.

01:38There were detailed proposals that were put forth by the various parties.

01:41And then, as often happens in these sorts of negotiations,

01:45the negotiators had to go back to their countries,

01:47consult with their capitals, and continue discussions.

01:49So we have—there are a number of proposals that are on the table that need to be fleshed out.

01:52There are different ways you could go about reopening Rafa that we are working through.

01:58Separate from that, though it's, of course, related, the question of humanitarian assistance.

02:02We have continued to work to get humanitarian assistance back flowing through Kerem Shalom

02:07after the decision about 10, 11 days or so ago made by Egypt

02:13to allow trucks to move through Kerem Shalom.

02:16Yesterday, I think it was somewhere around 250 trucks that went in through Kerem Shalom.

02:20I'm probably off by a dozen or so because I'm doing this from memory.

02:23Other trucks that went in through one of the crossings in the north,

02:26the majority of those were humanitarian assistance trucks,

02:29so trucks by the UN and partner agencies, not commercial trucks.

02:32Generally, over the past few days, we've continued to see a mix of commercial trucks

02:36and humanitarian assistance.

02:38We want to see both.

02:39We think it's important that there be both.

02:41And we're looking to maximize as many as possible coming through all the various crossings.

02:49Third thing I'll say, maybe third, maybe I've lost count,

02:51is that the Pentagon continues to work to try to reestablish the maritime option,

02:55get that pier up and running so we can flow assistance through there.

02:58But then the big question overhanging all of this is the status of the ceasefire proposal,

03:04which would alleviate all of these various logistical problems

03:07that make it so hard to move humanitarian assistance in through a conflict.

03:11It would make all of those not 100% go away, but would make them in many cases evaporate

03:17or be at least significantly lessened.

03:19So the push for a ceasefire deal is inherently related to the push to try to dramatically increase

03:27the level of humanitarian assistance that makes it to the people of Gaza.

03:31One more, just to tag onto Humeyra's question about President Biden's remarks in this recent interview.

03:36Is the Secretary of the view that Prime Minister Netanyahu may be prolonging the conflict

03:40in an effort to stay in office?

03:41I don't think that's exactly what the President said.

03:43He said that some people could conclude that.

03:46Look, the President's comments speak for themselves.

03:49I'm not going to add anything to that.

03:50But I will just say we have been engaged with the Prime Minister on this question,

03:54and the Prime Minister has put forward a proposal on behalf of the Israeli government

03:58that would lead to a ceasefire and ultimately could lead to the end of the war,

04:04pending other negotiations, and we're trying to get that ceasefire.

04:06The President said there's every reason for people to draw that conclusion without commenting permanently.

04:11So just one follow-up.

04:12I mean, so the proposal is on the table as a contingency.

04:15Have you had any indication that the Israelis are also planning for a day-after scenario

04:20as you have urged them to do?

04:22We've seen the defense minister come out and make public statements about possible day-after scenarios.

04:28You've seen, obviously, statements from Minister Gantz, a member of the War Cabinet,

04:33about the need to do day-after planning.

04:36We have still not seen the kind of rigorous planning for the end of the conflict

04:42that we think is essential.

04:44And as you've heard us say, this isn't just about the end of the conflict,

04:49because in our view, without a plan for the day after, there won't be a day after.

04:53Without a plan for post-conflict governance and some kind of political transition,

04:57you're not going to have an end to the conflict.

04:59You're just going to have a continued insurgency and Israel being bogged down

05:02fighting against Hamas or Hamas' successors for years and years to come.

05:08I have another on Ukraine.

State Department Spokesperson Grilled On Gaza Peace Plan: ‘Has The Proposal Reached Hamas?’

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