From the Liveblog of
Friday, August 9, 2024
‘Dead wrong’: White House pushes back against Smotrich over ceasefire opposition
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says the Biden administration will not allow “extremists,” including in Israel, to push Gaza ceasefire talks off course.
US President Joe Biden “won’t allow extremists to blow things off course, including extremists in Israel, making these ridiculous charges against the deal,” Kirby says.
He specifically accuses Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of making false claims, saying his claim the fighting could continue indefinitely was “dead wrong,” and misleading the Israeli public.
Smotrich announced his opposition to a ceasefire deal earlier in the day, saying the terms would amount to an Israeli surrender and accusing the US and other international allies of pushing it into “a trap”
“Smotrich essentially suggests that the war ought to go on indefinitely without pause and with the lives of the hostages of no real concern at all,” Kirby says. “The views expressed by Mr. Smotrich would in fact sacrifice the lives of Israeli hostages, his own countrymen, and American hostages as well.”
Kirby said
He also says the US has received assurances from Qatar that Hamas will be represented when talks resume in Cairo or Doha on August 15.
