White House rebukes ‘dead wrong’ Israeli lawmaker who called ceasefire deal a ‘trap’

The White House issued a strong rebuke of an Israeli government official who described the renewed effort to secure a ceasefire deal as a “trap.”

President Joe Biden , President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani of Qatar released a joint statement Thursday evening calling on both parties "to conclude the ceasefire and hostages and detainees release deal."

They called on each party to meet in either Doha, Qatar, or Cairo next Thursday to complete the deal. Israel will send a delegation to the meeting, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

Following their joint release, Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned Netanyahu “not to fall into this trap.”

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Friday, “his arguments are dead wrong,” and are “misleading the Israeli public.”

“Some critics, like Mr. Smotrich, for example, have claimed that the hostage deal is a surrender to Hamas, or that hostages should not be exchanged for prisoners,” he added. "Mr. Smotrich essentially suggests that the war ought to go on indefinitely without pause and with the lies of the hostages, but no real concern at all."

The outline of the proposed ceasefire deal is the same one that Biden laid out publicly in late May. The deal would be three phases, the first of which would last about six weeks and would include the release of about 30 of the most vulnerable Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Hamas, the cessation of fighting, a surge in humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians, and the removal of Israeli forces from population centers.

A senior U.S. administration official told reporters that negotiators will have some hurdles to work through during next week's meeting.

"We're not anticipating the deal being ready to close on Thursday," the official said. "There's still some, a lot of work here to be done. But we think getting this moving later next week will be unhelpful and constructive."

Kirby expressed hope that all parties could walk away from this round of negotiations with an agreement in place.

“Well, my goodness, that’s what we want to have done,” he said.

This round of fighting between Israel and Hamas, the most destructive war between the two in history, began when Hamas fighters carried out a massive attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Thousands of Palestinian militants overpowered the border fence that morning and proceeded to move into nearby communities, where they killed about 1,200 people.

Roughly 250 Israelis were kidnapped, about half of whom were released during a weeklong ceasefire in late November 2023. The sides have not agreed to another ceasefire since the conclusion of that one.

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Israel, in response, has carried out a significant military response in an effort to remove Hamas from power in Gaza and to demilitarize the group. Israel's war has left much of the strip pulverized and has resulted in the deaths of about 40,000 people so far, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry. That total does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Israel has killed several of Hamas's leaders, though the main leader still alive is Yahya Sinwar, who is believed to be hiding in Hamas's underground tunnel network under Gaza. He has continued to evade Israeli forces. Israel is believed to be responsible for last week's assassination of Hamas political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran.