State Department denies ceasefire draft was unfair

The State Department goes on the defensive Monday afternoon, critiquing Israeli sources for leaking details of a Gaza ceasefire draft, and then denying allegations that the draft represented a capitulation to Hamas demands.

Leaks and criticism of the sort that Secretary of State John Kerry faced over the weekend are “simply not the way allies and partners treat each other,” State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki complains.

“We were surprised that the draft was leaked to the press,” Psaki tells reporters Monday.

Psaki emphasizes that “there was never a formal US proposal presented,” explaining that the US had instead “sent a confidential-labeled draft of ideas based on an Egyptian proposal.”

Far from including Hamas demands — which, according to complaints by Israeli officials, the US plan did — Psaki says that the “main difference” was that the US draft included more specific language regarding humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Defending against Israeli complaints that the document did not address the problems of Hamas terror tunnels into Israel, Psaki said that there was no mention of tunnels in the Egyptian ceasefire proposal that Israel had already approved, and which Hamas rejected.

The “US objective has been, and remains, stopping the rocket fire against Israeli citizens,” Psaki continues, adding that the first step to such an outcome is the maintenance of a humanitarian ceasefire.

— Rebecca Shimoni Stoil