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The U.S. government is making an intense effort to persuade Israel and Hamas to resume negotiations so they can once again pause hostilities and exchange more prisoners for hostages, a White House spokesman said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are still working it really hard, hour by hour, to see if we can get the sides back to the table and see if we can get something moving,\u201d John F. Kirby, the strategic communications coordinator at the White House National Security Council, said on NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press.\u201d \u201cWe would like that to happen today. But honestly, I just don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
In appearances on several Sunday talk shows, Mr. Kirby emphasized that Hamas was to blame for the breakdown in talks, saying that it had not lived up to the terms of its original agreement to begin handing over captives held in Gaza.<\/p>\n
He said Hamas had failed to produce a list of women and children who could be released in addition to the 105 hostages who were freed during the original pause in fighting. Among those still held are eight or nine Americans. Osama Hamdan, a representative for Hamas in Lebanon, said on Sunday that negotiations over the hostages would not resume until the Israeli assault stopped.<\/p>\n
Israel has since resumed its attacks on Hamas, and Mr. Kirby urged it to avoid civilian casualties, while crediting its forces with making efforts to do so. He said Israeli authorities had been open to U.S. advice about how to make their assault more precise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that they have been receptive to our messages here in terms of trying to minimize civilian casualties,\u201d he said on ABC\u2019s \u201cThis Week.\u201d He noted that Israel had published a map directing civilians to what it said were safe zones.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s not a whole lot of modern militaries that would do that, I mean, that is, to telegraph their punches in that way,\u201d he said. \u201cSo they are making an effort.\u201d<\/p>\n
President Biden and his administration have sought to straddle a careful line nearly two months after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in which Hamas killed an estimated 1,200 people in Israel and took about 240 more hostage. While supporting Israel\u2019s right to defend itself, the administration has also sought to restrain Israel from what it believes would be going too far in its response.<\/p>\n
That led to criticism from both the left and the right on Sunday, as some Republicans complained that Mr. Biden\u2019s team was trying to hold Israel back, while some liberal Democrats complained that it was not doing that enough.<\/p>\n