US State Department blasts Hamas for refusing to negotiate hostage deal

As the focus of Iran’s terror proxy war against Israel has shifted from Gaza to Lebanon, some observers have speculated whether the military clash between Israel and Hezbollah undermines the dormant hostage negotiations with Hamas in Gaza.

However, U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller blasted the terrorist organization Hamas on Wednesday for its refusal to engage in the internationally brokered hostage negotiations.

"It’s not that it’s been overtaken by the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. It’s that Hamas has, again, refused to engage," Miller assessed.

The U.S. official stressed that Hamas’ refusal to accept a hostage deal precedes the current intense fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"Hamas has been unwilling to come to the table to engage the past several weeks," Miller stated. "So yes, it’s true that we have not been able to advance these ceasefire talks, but it’s not because of any lack of effort by the United States or our partners in the region. It’s because the terrorist organization that Iran has sponsored for years and years and years has refused to come to the table," he emphasized.

Miller further noted that "right now and for the past few weeks, it’s been Hamas being unwilling to engage in any meaningful way with the mediators that has kept us from moving towards an agreement," referring to Egypt and Qatar, two Middle Eastern states that have played a prominent role in advancing the hostage release negotiations.

Hezbollah launched an unprovoked attack on northern Israel on Oct. 8, the day after some 6,000 Hamas terrorists massacred 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 251 people into Gaza from southern Israeli border communities. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated last week in a massive Israeli air strike in Beirut, had previously insisted on linking his aggression against Israel to the conflict between Hamas and Israel. Nasrallah claimed that Hezbollah would end its attacks on Israel if Hamas and Israel reach a Gaza ceasefire deal.

Hamas’ military capabilities have been largely degraded after a year of war against Israel, according to the IDF. To date, Hezbollah has launched more than 9,000 rockets, missiles and drones at Israel, killing dozens of Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers. In addition, some 60,000 Israelis have been forced to evacuate their homes as a result of the ongoing Hezbollah aggression against northern Israeli communities.

Israel initially received international sympathies following the unprecedented Hamas Oct. 7 invasion and terror attack. However, as the war in Gaza against the Hamas terror group has progressed, much of the international opinion turned against Israel’s right to defend itself, with growing demands for an immediate ceasefire that would permit Hamas to rearm and regroup.

Former French President Nicholas Sarkozy recently expressed his support for the Jewish state's right to defend itself.

"Israel has the right to defend itself. It has the duty to defend itself. If we, the French, were in the same situation, we would need to defend ourselves. A country must stand tall, and Israel has the right to live standing tall, to live, period, and to live standing tall. From this perspective, I say they were right," Sarkozy stated.