John Bolton on Israel-Hamas cease-fire talks, Iranian tensions

( NewsNation ) — An anonymous U.S. official said Friday mediators are preparing for a cease-fire and hostage-swap deal in the Israel-Hamas war, with the alleged deal bridging every gap between the two sides.

John Bolton, who served as a United States national security adviser under the Trump administration, tells “ Elizabeth Vargas Reports ” he’s “skeptical” the involved parties are actually on the same page.

“Hamas’ idea of a cease-fire is a permanent cease-fire and a withdrawal of all Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, a synonym for that is ‘end of the war,'” Bolton said. “For Israel, cease-fire means a time-limited … something after which the hostilities could resume. I don’t know how you bridge that gap.”

Cease-fire, hostage release talks

On Friday, mediators shared hope that a deal was within reach after a devastating 10-month war . As of Friday, the Palestinian death toll in Gaza climbed past 40,000, per Gaza authorities.

The proposal allegedly addresses both Israel and Hamas’ conditions, according to the anonymous source.

But Bolton believes it’s just a “bridging proposal,” which means “it’s not necessarily the case that either the Israelis or Hamas or certainly not both of them have agreed to it.”

“There’s a lot of talk and a lot of kind of pushing people to say, ‘Come on, you got a deal,'” Bolton added. “We’ve got the framework of a deal. What that means is they don’t have a deal.”

The proposal would also aim to facilitate a hostage swap and distribution of aid through a new “implementation cell” in Cairo, the U.S. official claimed.

Bolton said he’s unsure how many hostages will be returned if the deal goes through.

“I don’t know what figure people have in mind in the United States of how many hostages remain. The number over 100 has been used a lot,” he said. “I think that’s nowhere near accurate. I think there perhaps less than 20 that are still alive.”

Following the talks, Israel issued a vague statement saying it appreciated the mediators’ efforts. A statement from Hamas did not sound enthusiastic about the latest proposal.

Mediators will reconvene in Cairo next week to potentially seal the deal.

Why hasn’t Iran retaliated?

Amid cease-fire talks, tension throughout the Middle East continues to rise, with Iran and Hezbollah seeking retaliatory attacks against Israel following the assassinations of top militant leaders.

The potential attacks have been front of mind for nearly two weeks, but Bolton thinks Iran has held off so far because it faces “an unpalatable series of choices.”

“I think Iran very much fears that Netanyahu and the Israelis this time will not be restrained by the United States but will strike very, very hard in Iran against highly prized targets, up to and including the nuclear weapons program,” Bolton said.

An Iranian attack on Israel could spell involvement for the United States, with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz saying in a statement that Israel expects its allies not to just help it defend itself but attack Iran as well.

“So, Iran has got a very tight line to walk here,” Bolton said. “And I think that’s the real cause of the delay.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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