Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer told Newsmax on Friday that there is no cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, only the appearance of one, because the Biden administration neglected to get buy-in from two key sides: Israel and Hamas.
And further, that buy-in is not coming, he said.
Shaffer joined retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt on "The Chris Salcedo Show" to discuss Friday's proclamation by President Joe Biden that the sides are "closer than we have ever been" to a truce in Gaza.
"So if this was an agreement between Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, we'd be done," Shaffer said. "They've all agreed. But, apparently, who is missing? Hamas and the Israelis. And they're both, like, not really on board ... so when Biden says, Oh, we're getting closer, I don't know who he's really talking about.
"The Israelis are not prepared to accept this indefinite, permanent cease-fire; Hamas is not willing to give up their last measure of leverage, which is the hostages."
The White House announced Friday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel this weekend to advance the latest proposal, a move Shaffer dismissed.
"So I see Tony Blinken and this administration doing what they do very well: vacillating," Shaffer said, "and the vacillation is all about trying to create the appearance ... of progress while nothing is going to be done.
"Let me go on record here: There's going to be no cease-fire next week. Just saying."
Holt added that there's no incentive for Israel; it's close to achieving its stated goal of eradicating Hamas.
"They're getting to the end of the line — Hamas is — militarily. So why would Israel give that up at the end?
"There's two brigades left; we're talking about 2,000 fighters. And as they start to take them down, they're going to get to where those hostages are anyway."
He added: "Tony and I have always said this is going to come down to a rescue operation. If — if — [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu were to capitulate and give in to the terms that Blinken and [national security adviser Jake] Sullivan structured at the table, knowing that they've got a lot of Iran in their bias, that government would be over in five seconds.
Holt said: "Hezbollah just announced about an hour ago that they're going to strike Israel regardless of how these negotiations go.
"So none of the belligerents are paying attention to Washington, D.C. That's the common denominator."
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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