Tapper: Israel Hears the Calls for Ceasefire But Sees No Offer of Solution for Hostages or Removal of Hamas from Gaza

EXCERPT:

TAPPER: "So Hamas, which is the government of Gaza, based on their own words, a) they think the loss of Palestinian civilian lives is just the cost of liberation; b) they think that even though they're the government of Gaza, it's not their responsibility to protect Palestinian civilians, the tunnels are for themselves, for fighting, not for civilians; and c) they're determined to continue attacking Israel the same way they did on October 7th, over and over and over, based on what they say. So, for these reasons, Israel says, 'We can't have a ceasefire. Listen to what they say.' So they're pushing forward with their ground incursion into Gaza. From the point of view of Israel, they hear all the calls for a ceasefire. What they do not hear is anyone in the international community proposing anyway for them to get back their 240 hostages that Hamas kidnapped. They don't hear anyone proposing anyway for Hamas to be removed from the leadership of Gaza. Israel sees the parades and the rallies for the ceasefire, and they see no parades and no rallies for the return of the hostages or the removal of Hamas. So here we are. And here is President Biden in a tricky situation. President Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on the phone just a few hours ago, we're told, pushing for a humanitarian pause, but not a ceasefire, which Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says the U.S. is trying to get Israel to agree on."