Florida’s Governor is taking a wait-and-see attitude about the proposed ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
“I’ve heard mixed things in terms of the news reports I’ve read,” Gov. Ron DeSantis told radio host Mark Levin.
The deal brokered by Qatar and the United States as of Thursday morning has not been approved by the Israeli Cabinet amid what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls a “last-minute crisis” with Hamas.
DeSantis, who has forged a renewed closeness with incoming President Donald Trump, believes the next leader of the country will give Israel a better hand than the outgoing Joe Biden administration.
“I think at the end of the day we know this: Jan. 20, we are going to have a much stronger relationship with Israel than we’ve had over the last four years. I cannot imagine that Donald Trump, with all that he’s done to support Israel, is going to accept anything less than a Gaza that has no more Hamas,” DeSantis said, adding that he expects “more shoes to drop” in the coming days.
After the announcement of the deal framework before Israel approved it, the country has continued air strikes in Gaza, killing 72 people according to The Associated Press. Hamas has claimed to be “committed” to the agreement, but without Cabinet approval, the deal is not binding.
As reported by the Times of Israel, Trump said Wednesday he was “thrilled American and Israeli hostages will be returning home” and that there would be “hell to pay” if hostages were not released. But despite Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, being part of the negotiations with Netanyahu, DeSantis believes the negotiation posture will improve after the inauguration.
“Definitely mixed reviews on what I’ve seen so far, but I think we should wait till Donald Trump gets in because I think he’s going to end up getting this right,” DeSantis told Levin.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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