Hamas: Biden cease-fire optimism premature

Palestinian militant group Hamas pumped the brakes on a potential upcoming cease-fire with Israel after a Monday claim from President Biden that an agreement was imminent.

Senior Hamas leader Osama Hamdan said in a statement that the leak of a potential deal under discussion in Paris between negotiators is part of a plan to “pressure and create a state of weakness” among the Palestinian people.

Hamdan said if agreed to, the draft proposal in Paris would allow Israel to prepare for another attack on Gaza.

“Promoting the Paris draft agreement is a propaganda situation that does not reach what we want,” he said in a statement shared on pro-Iranian channels. “The priority is to stop the aggression, end the siege, introduce the aid.”

Hamas officials also told Reuters that there were still “big gaps to be bridged” in the negotiations.

And Qatar, a country that has acted as the primary negotiator between Israel and Hamas, told the news outlet that an agreement has yet to be reached, though it expressed optimism of a deal down the line.

The Paris draft proposal includes a 40-day truce, which would see the release of 40 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in return for 400 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, according to Reuters.

Biden said Monday that a cease-fire agreement could start next week: “My national security adviser tells me that we’re close, we’re close. We’re not done yet. My hope is by next Monday, we’ll have a cease-fire.”

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan also hinted that a deal was close Sunday, telling CNN that representatives from Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar met in Paris and “came to an understanding” on a hostage deal.

Israel and Hamas agreed to a temporary cease-fire and the exchanging of prisoners and hostages at the end of November. But they remain hung up on another deal, with Hamas calling for a permanent cease-fire and Israel vowing to carry on the war.

The war in Gaza has killed nearly 30,000 Palestinians, according to Hamas health officials, and civilians are struggling to access basic necessities including food and water.

Israel is also threatening to move into the southern city of Rafah by March 10, threatening the city where more than a million civilians are sheltering from the war as leaders vow to destroy Hamas in every part of Gaza in retaliation for killing 1,200 people in southern Israel and kidnapping some 240 others, about 100 of whom are still in Gaza and alive.