Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said late Tuesday that White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan is not sharing the “full picture” when it comes to Gaza cease-fire talks.
“I’m saying he’s not sharing the full picture,” Omar said in an interview on CNN’s “NewsNight” with anchor Abby Phillip. “I don’t know if he’s being honest or not, but it certainly does not go along with the current reporting that has come out of those negotiation efforts.”
Earlier in the interview, a clip of Sullivan was played in which he said “[t]hose who would like to see a cease-fire in Gaza, a cease-fire is on the table today, for six weeks, to be built on into something more enduring, if Hamas would simply release women, wounded and elderly.”
“And the fact that they will not do so says a lot to me, about Hamas’s regard for innocent Palestinian civilians,” Sullivan continued.
Omar later said it was her understanding that Israel didn’t show up to negotiations in Egypt for a cease-fire.
“It was Israel that refused to send negotiators to be at the table to carve out – you have to remember that a cease-fire is not something that happens magically,” Omar said.
Last week, a Hamas delegation left Cairo amid negotiations for a temporary cease-fire. Mediators had tried to bring about a deal before the start of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, which began earlier this week, to no avail.
“A delegation from Hamas left Cairo today to consult with the movement’s leadership, with negotiations and efforts continuing to stop the aggression, return the displaced, and introduce relief aid to our Palestinian people,” Hamas wrote in a statement provided by a pro-Iranian news network.
Israel has reportedly agreed to a framework of a cease-fire proposal, which would result in a six-week cease-fire and the freeing of hostages held by Hamas who are considered at risk.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants raided southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and abducting around 250 others.
Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, has said that over 31,000 Palestinians have been killed. The United Nations, meanwhile, says a quarter of Gaza’s population is starving.
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