President Biden traveled to New York on Monday and casually hinted over ice cream cones in an appearance on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” that a ceasefire in Gaza is in the works, perhaps by early next week. And while the President caught a lot of people off guard, ABC News correspondent Jordana Miller says no one may have been more surprised by the prospect of a ceasefire than the Israelis themselves. Speaking on 710 WOR’s Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning program, Miller says a ceasefire in less than a week just isn’t happening.
“There’s really no indication that the region and the partners will agree to something as soon as Monday,” Miller told Riedel and Larry Mendte, sitting in for Berman. “I mean, that’s essentially in five days. Already the White House is pushing for a deal by Ramadan, which is March 10th, the Muslim holy month, which is in everybody’s interest, but to say that it would happen on Monday, I think, is just kind of off the mark.”
Still, there might be growing urgency in Israel to hammer out a deal, if it is possible, as Miller says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hearing more talk from Israeli citizens about freeing the remaining hostages. “The weight of the families and the pressure is coming to bear on Netanyahu, and he knows he needs to get a deal, and this might be the right time. If there’s ever going to be a deal, it’s now; otherwise, we’re going to have to wait until the end of Ramadan, and then Passover starts, so we’re in for another six or eight weeks of fighting if we can’t get it done now.”
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