Brett McGurk: Hamas Sees Macron’s Initiative as ‘the Fruits of October 7th’

EXCERPT:

McGURK: “I know from my experience, Hamas reacts to international opinion and what these other leaders say. And I thought that Macron initiative, it might be well-intended, it made stopping the war much harder because Hamas now has no incentive to stop the war. They want to see that recognition of a Palestinian state. Again, that‘s not their endgame. They see a Palestinian state as a stepping stone to eliminating Israel. But Hamas has come out and said this Macron initiative, this French initiative is the fruits of October 7th. That‘s what their leaders are saying. This is very damaging to any effort to actually get the hostages out. So, again, this new kind of idea that I put on the table here would actually parlay this. Let‘s put the pressure back on Hamas. Let‘s get a pause to alleviate the humanitarian situation. And let‘s kind of think through how to deal with this U.N. General Assembly coming in September.