Today’s headlines focus on yet another round of the Hamas Hokey Pokey. The real story may be its coming irrelevance.
Hamas spent most of the last few days repeatedly claiming to have accepted the terms of a Steven Witkoff cease-fire framework. Twice this week, Hamas tried to game negotiations by declaring support for terms not offered, especially a supposed offer to have Israel commit to a “permanent ceasefire” and total withdrawal by the IDF from Gaza. Yesterday, they turned up their noses at the plan that Witkoff actually drew up:
The U.S. has presented Israel and Hamas with a new proposal to pause the fighting in the Gaza Strip, though the militant group has already criticized it for not requiring an end to the 20-month conflict.
The agreement calls for Hamas to release 10 of the roughly 20 hostages Israel believes are still alive and the bodies of another…
