Retired Army Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, the president of the London Center for Policy Research, told Newsmax on Thursday that Israel and Hamas are unlikely to agree to a third ceasefire despite attempts from the Trump administration to broker one in Rome this week.
Shaffer said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America" that the U.S. envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who is in Rome this week for negotiations with senior Israeli and Qatari officials, "was predicating his move to go to Qatar for continued negotiations on the response" to a ceasefire proposal.
"I don't think it's going to happen," Shaffer said. "The response sounds like it's not within scope of what would be acceptable to the Israelis."
He added that "one of the big holdups" concerns this question: "How does the aid get to the people in Gaza? Hamas is continuing to use that aid to basically tax the aid, you know, take the money from its people, sustain its terror operations. So it's something the Israelis aren't going to give in on."
Shaffer said: "The other thing Hamas does not like for the ceasefire is a certain percentage of Israeli forces remaining in Gaza during the cease fire. Again ... Hamas wants them out. Israel is not going to leave. So I think these two sticking points in particular are just not going to allow for a continued negotiation" in Qatar.
Fred Fleitz, vice chair of the America First Policy Institute Center for American Security, added during the same interview that "Hamas hasn't shown any interest in long term peace. And it's just so outrageous that it's holding up this cease fire deal."
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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