Netanyahu sabotaged Gaza truce talks multiple times: Biden admin. official

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with his hawkish ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, obstructed Gaza ceasefire talks multiple times, according to former US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

An investigation by Israel’s Channel 13 found that while Joe Biden’s administration kept blaming Hamas for the failure, Netanyahu and his allies “systematically” obstructed Gaza ceasefire talks.

Miller also confirmed the findings, according to the report.

“We had no broad mandate. At times, it was zero,” he admitted. He explained that conditions shifted suddenly, sometimes even as US envoys boarded planes.

He said Washington knew Israel was undermining ceasefire efforts but chose silence.

The Biden administration chose not to confront Netanyahu, fearing that public criticism would “strengthen Hamas,” according to Miller.

The report also documented how Netanyahu placed new conditions whenever talks neared success.

Netanyahu’s cabinet resisted ceasefire terms and repeatedly reset negotiations, it added.

These moves, according to the investigation, denied Israeli captives held in Gaza a chance at early release and prolonged the genocide in the besieged territory where nearly 62,300 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli regime.

Miller recalled that the US sometimes had to intervene directly to prevent Netanyahu from backtracking.

Deploy peacekeeping force to Gaza: Rights body urges UN General Assembly

Rights group urges the UN General Assembly to invoke a historic resolution allowing it to bypass the Security Council and deploy a peacekeeping force to Gaza.

In May 2024, Biden publicly disclosed the terms of an agreement just hours after Netanyahu approved it.

“We told Israel only an hour or two before the speech because … we were determined not to let [Netanyahu] walk away from it,” Miller explained.

Even when Hamas accepted a US-mediated proposal in July 2024, Israel introduced new demands about the Philadelphi Corridor, stalling negotiations for nearly a month, the report said.

Miller described the episode as particularly damaging, saying, “It was consistent with the pattern we saw for many months. [Israelis] were always looking for ways to add conditions or make the terms more difficult.”

According to Channel 13, by late 2024, Netanyahu even set aside a breakthrough proposal from Israel’s Shin Bet spy agency, choosing instead to wait for the possible return of Donald Trump to the White House.

Miller acknowledged that US officials repeatedly debated whether to go public with their frustration, stating, “There were times that we very much wanted to go public and make clear that we thought the Prime Minister was being completely intransigent.”

The investigation also cited Gadi Eisenkot, a former member of Israel’s war cabinet and the deputy head of the Israeli negotiating team, who testified that Israeli leaders misled the public by publishing false claims about deals before talks had even begun.

Netanyahu reportedly dismissed US warnings that the genocide would drag on for decades without a clear plan for Gaza.

According to the report, when Secretary of State Antony Blinken cautioned Israel’s war cabinet about the risk of an endless genocide, Netanyahu replied: “You are right. We are going to be fighting this war for decades to come. That is the way it has been. That is the way it is going to be.”

A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip took effect on January 19.

On March 18, the Israeli regime launched surprise airstrikes on Gaza, shattering the ceasefire with Hamas.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir