Free Republic

President Joe Biden’s months-long push for a cease-fire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas has been upended again in recent days, putting the deal on life support as U.S. officials say they are reassessing next steps after they initially hoped to present the two sides with a “take it or leave it” proposal... The latest obstacle — the abrupt introduction by Hamas of a new demand... The two sides had tentatively agreed that at a certain point, Israel would release Palestinian militants serving life sentences in exchange for Hamas freeing Israeli soldiers. But this week, Hamas said civilian...