Hamas, the mainstream media and Israeli protesters have been pushing the narrative that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the primary obstacle to a Gaza hostage release deal. But it’s simply not true, senior foreign officials involved in the negotiations said on Monday at the MEAD conference on US relations with the Middle East held in Washington, DC.

“We have never been in a position where Hamas said ‘yes’ and we needed to convince Israel,” the officials stressed in remarks carried by the Israeli press. “There were times when perhaps Israel could have done a little more, but the pressure is on Hamas, and it needs to remain on them.”

In fact, the officials said that the Netanyahu government had agreed to compromises demanded by Hamas.

But there are certain conditions that the Americans and other foreign mediators understand are non-starters, such as leaving Hamas in power in the Gaza Strip.

Nor is the Philadelphi Corridor (the Gaza-Egypt border) the main sticking point, as it’s made out to be in the media.

Rather, Hamas continues to make last minute changes and demands that it knows are unacceptable.

“We agreed on the wording and Hamas changed the terms,” said the officials in relation to negotiation efforts over the past two weeks. They added that everyone knows who sits on the other side of the table, and no one really trusts or expects much of the Islamist terrorists.