White House says 'serious negotiations' over Gaza cease-fire deal 'not in the offing'

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The White House downplayed Friday the near-term potential for meaningful negotiations over an agreement that could end Israel's war on the besieged Gaza Strip, and release the over 100 hostages held there for over a year.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the death of Hamas' former leader, Yahya Sinwar, "can provide an inflection point to" end the war in Gaza.

The White House, he said, is in the midst of consultations with Israel "about how we can take advantage of that opportunity," but he emphasized that "we're not in a position right now where serious negotiations" over a Gaza deal "are in the offing."

"The President still believes that intensive diplomacy is still the preferred path, that we are now, with Sinwar gone, we are in a unique opportunity to really take that to the next level, try to get a ceasefire in Gaza, but as well, to try to get a ceasefire up in the north against Hezbollah, and again to prevent this conflict from escalating," Kirby told reporters in Germany.

The Israeli military said Thursday that it killed Sinwar in a military operation in the Gaza Strip. Although it did not specify the location of Sinwar's death, Israeli media reports suggested the operation took place in the southern city of Rafah.

Hamas on Friday confirmed its leader's death on the frontlines, calling him a “hero who fought the Israeli forces until his last breath.”

"Yahya Sinwar fell as a martyr, leading the fight against the Israeli occupation forces until his final moment," Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy chairman of Hamas' political bureau, said in a video statement.

He also stressed that Israeli hostages “will not be released until the complete cessation of the Israeli aggression in Gaza, the release of Palestinian prisoners, and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.”

More than 42,400 people have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 99,000 injured, since Israel began its war on the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack, according to local health authorities.

Increasingly prohibitive Israeli restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian assistance have exacerbated the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which even prior to the war was subject to an Israeli blockade.

Some 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas-led attack, and about 250 others were taken back to Gaza as hostages. An estimated 101 people continue to be held captive in the coastal enclave.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​