On Thursday’s broadcast of “CNN This Morning,” Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) argued that the primary pressure to achieve a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict has to be put on Hamas and that Hamas “is not an organization that can be negotiated with, absent supreme military leverage.” He also stated that he fears that creating a dynamic where Israel is pressured to provide concessions to achieve a ceasefire deal every time Hamas executes one of the hostages they took in the October 7 attack will end up creating “a downward spiral and an incentive structure whereby Hamas executes more hostages for more concessions.”
Auchincloss said, “I think that the prime pressure needs to be applied on Hamas to get this deal done. Remember, Hamas had these six young hostages record videos to their family members and then shot them execution-style. This is not an organization that can be negotiated with, absent supreme military leverage. And I worry that if we get into a dynamic where, every time Hamas executes a hostage, Israel is pressured to provide a concession, we are creating a downward spiral and an incentive structure whereby Hamas executes more hostages for more concessions.”
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