US says Hamas ‘biggest obstacle to deal,’ hints at frustration with Netanyahu

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says the sides have yet to agree on freeing hostages for prisoners as mediators attempt to push Israel and Hamas toward a Gaza ceasefire deal.

Pressed on whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become an obstacle to hostage negotiations due to his repeated pledges to remain indefinitely in the Philadelphi Corridor, a major sticking point, Kirby responds that “the biggest obstacle to getting a ceasefire deal is Hamas.”

“They took the damn hostages in the first place,” Kirby says during a press briefing, noting that the recent execution of 6 hostages has made the talks more difficult.

“As frustrating as it has been at times, and as unhelpful as not just public comments, but even private machinations in the negotiation purposes have been to the closure of the deal, it has not dimmed one bit President Biden’s commitment to trying to see this through,” Kirby says, echoing comments from a day earlier.