The White House says it's working on a new cease-fire proposal to bring hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza home. But the process of a deal has already taken months, and new demands from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to keep troops in place along the Gaza-Egypt border are complicating efforts.
To understand the continually evolving landscape of a potential deal, Scripps News spoke with Ilai Saltzman, director of the Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies at the University of Maryland.
Who's at fault for cease-fire talks taking so long?
"It depends on whom you ask," Saltzman said. "It depends if you ask the Americans, for the most part they would argue that certainly Hamas is to be blamed. But at the same time Netanyahu has a great deal of responsibility for the postponement of a conclusion of a deal between Israel and Hamas, for the release of the hostages, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the end of the conflict at the current state."
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What is the White House expected to offer in its latest efforts to secure a cease-fire?
"It seems like the United States is willing to kind of put a deal on the table over the weekend, probably Thursday or Friday. And this will be a 'take it or leave it' kind of a deal and they will blame the party that refuses the terms and refuses to move along," Saltzman said. "It seems like that the pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government is only increasing given the nature of the disagreement. It seems like Benjamin Netanyahu is now committed to refuse any movement forward unless the Philadelphi Corridor is held by Israel for the long term."
Will protests in Israel, the U.S. and elsewhere affect government decision-making?
"There's a political dimension to the decision," Saltzman said. "Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting for his political survivability. If he accepts the plan as it is now — the initiative of the Americans, the Qataris and the Egyptians — this will basically bring an end to his government. It will terminate the government and probably lead to election and his ousting from the prime minister's office. And this is something that he is unwilling to do."
Watch the full interview with Saltzman in the video above.
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