US Criticism of Smotrich, Countries Support Mediators’ Statement | News

Washington today, Friday, directed harsh criticism at the Israeli Finance Minister. Bezalel Smotrich After his severe criticism of the call by international mediators to resume negotiations between the resistance and Israel next Thursday, while the international community continues to welcome the move.

The leaders of Qatar, Egypt and the United States called on the Islamic Resistance Movement (agitation) and Israel to resume ceasefire and prisoner exchange talks next Thursday in Doha or Cairo.

White House National Security Adviser John Kirby questioned why Smotrich “issued such an outrageous and illogical statement” on the day the United States, Qatar and Egypt issued a tripartite statement calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Kirby stressed that countries that care about their citizens make deals to release them in exchange for the release of prisoners, contrary to what Minister Smotrich expressed in statements that he described as misleading, wrong and ridiculous.

He said that the views expressed by Smotrich would endanger the lives of Israeli and American detainees, stressing that the time had come to conclude a ceasefire agreement.

Kirby added that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu He welcomed the joint tripartite statement between Qatar, Egypt and the United States, and directed his team to participate in the discussions next Thursday.

The White House National Security Advisor confirmed that the US President Joe Biden He was directed to do whatever it took to defend Israel.

Smotrich's statements

Smotrich strongly criticized the mediators' statement, saying in a post on the “X” platform that the proposed agreement represents “pressure on Israel to stop the war, surrender and lose its deterrent power.”

Smotrich added that we must not fall into the “trap of mediator countries that are trying to dictate to Israel a surrender agreement that wastes Israeli blood that was shed in a just war,” he claimed.

Smotrich called on the Prime Minister not to agree to the proposed deal and not to back down from the red lines he had set in this regard, and he believed that the war should not stop before “annihilating Hamas.”

Israeli Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu's approval to resume negotiations to complete the exchange deal was due to American pressure on Israel not to postpone its conclusion.

Netanyahu's office said that Israel will send the negotiating team on the 15th of this month to the place agreed upon by the mediators, to participate in determining the terms and framework of a deal with Hamas.

you will go anywhere

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that Tel Aviv will go anywhere to support the prisoner exchange negotiations.

An informed source told CNN that planning is underway to hold a meeting on the date announced in the statement by the leaders of the United States, Qatar and Egypt.

The source indicated that the main mediators will attend the next round of negotiations and that CIA Director William Burns will lead the American delegation.

The Israeli Channel Kan revealed that the demands of the Netanyahu government in the deal negotiations are to control the Philadelphi Corridor, prevent the passage of militants to the northern Gaza Strip, and the possibility of selecting any prisoner held by the resistance to be released under the clause of “humanitarian release.”

The Associated Press quoted American diplomats as saying that negotiations on the exchange deal were close to achieving a breakthrough shortly before Israel assassinated the head of the political bureau of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh And the leader in Hezbollah Fouad Shukr.

International welcome

Meanwhile, international welcome for the mediators' statement continued, and the British Foreign Secretary announced full support for the call by Qatar, Egypt and the United States to immediately resume negotiations between Hamas and Israel.

Australia, Canada, Spain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait and Lebanon also expressed support for the mediators’ statement and praised its contents.

In the same context, the Emiri Diwan announced that the Emir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, received a phone call from French President Emmanuel Macron.

The Emiri Diwan said that the Emir of Qatar and the French President discussed bilateral relations between the two countries, developments in the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories, and regional and international developments of common interest.

Earlier, Macron and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed their support for the mediators' statement and their call for the need to stop the war in Gaza.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza, leaving more than 131,000 dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, in addition to widespread destruction of infrastructure and an unprecedented humanitarian disaster.