Nick Schifrin:
Earlier today, Israel announced that it would withdraw its negotiators from Doha to — quote — “for additional consultations in Israel.” And this afternoon Witkoff made the announcement that you just said, saying he too was bringing his team home for additional consultations.
And he used this word. He said Hamas’ latest response — quote — “shows a lack of desire to reach a cease-fire in Gaza. Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith.”
But, Amna, sources I talked to tonight say that it’s not clear that this is the end of negotiations. A U.S. official tells me that Hamas’ latest response demanded that Israel release 200 high-profile Palestinian prisoners, rather than 125, as Israel had offered, and also adjusted slightly the map exactly where troops, Israeli troops, would go when that cease-fire began, and that this official says that the mediators, including Qatar and Egypt, did not see that as major changes and actually thought that the momentum was positive toward a deal.
And there are Israeli officials tonight who are indicating that this is actually just a tactic, a ploy to get Hamas to move back toward the Israeli stance. But there is also that very clear threat that Witkoff made in the statement that you read that we will — quote — “pursue other means to release hostages.”
That suggests a renewed offensive by Israel in Gaza. And tonight Israel is criticizing an announcement just the last few hours by Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, who said that France would recognize an independent Palestinian state next week during a high-profile U.N. event.
