There are still no indications when negotiations will resume between Israel and Hamas for the release of more hostages from Gaza, with U.S. officials putting the blame squarely on the terrorists for not coming to the table.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby also assured on Sunday that the U.S. was not aware of any impending Hamas terrorist attack following a New York Times report that Israel knew of the plans a year in advance.
A pause in conflict between Israel and Hamas ended on Friday when negotiations dissolved between the two sides on stopping the violence in an effort to release hostages from Hamas stronghold of Gaza.
‘We’re working at this… to try to see hour by hour if we can get these discussions back going forward to see if we can get the pause back in place and get the hostages out,’ Kirby told ABC This Week host George Stephanopoulos on Sunday morning.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said there aren’t indications of when negotiations will resume between Israel and Hamas to get more hostages out of Gaza after talks fell apart on Friday
‘For right now neither side is willing to come back to the table,’ he added. ‘It fell apart because Hamas was unwilling and refused to come up with additional lists of women and children, which we know they are holding, and put them on the list so Israel could evaluate that and get that exchanged.’
According to a bombshell report from The Times, Israeli officials had an intimate understanding of Hamas’ plans to attack over a year before it happened.
The officials brushed off the battle plan last year as too aspirational for the terrorist group to pull off, the report claims based on a 40-page document obtained by the outlet.
On October 7, Hamas launched an attack on Israel resulting in the death of 1,200 people in a single day – the largest on-day massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust.
The blueprint reportedly did not set a date for the attack, but offered an exhaustive look at the terrorist group’s strategy, including targeting fortifications around the Gaza Strip while storming key military bases and division headquarters.
Revelations of the document raises questions as to why Israel failed to take steps to prevent the attack.
‘The intelligence community has indicated that they did not have access to this document. There’s no indications at this time that they had any access to this document beforehand,’ Kirby said when asked if the U.S. was in any way aware of the plans ahead of time.
‘Our own intelligence community said that they’ve looked at this,’ he added. ‘They have no indications at this time that they had any advanced warning of this document or any knowledge of it.’
The pause on conflict ended on Friday when negotiations for the release of more hostages came to an abrupt end
It comes in conjunction with a breakdown of negotiations to release hostages still being held in Gaza after a batch were let out last month.
‘The negotiations have stopped. That said, what hasn’t stopped is our own involvement, trying to get those back on track,’ Kirby told NBC News host Kristen Welker on Meet the Press Sunday morning.
‘We would like that to happen today,’ he added. ‘But honestly, I just don’t know.’