Fox News contributor and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave his perspective on Hamas' acceptance of an Egyptian-Qatari proposal for a cease-fire to halt the seven-month-long war with Israel, telling "The Story" Monday that Hamas broke the last cease-fire agreement with Israel on Oct. 7. He warns that if Israel has to fight a "half loaf" war against Hamas, more terrorist attacks will occur.
ISRAEL BLOCKS AL JAZEERA, MOVES TO CLOSE DOWN OFFICES IN COUNTRY: 'HAMAS' MOUTHPIECE'
MIKE POMPEO: You know, this feels like, in the best case, a jailhouse conversion. That is, Hamas can see the handwriting on the wall and that the Israelis are going to run through the stop sign President Biden has put in front of them, and they're going to do the necessary. They're going to take out the senior leadership that is hiding in the tunnels in Rafah and elsewhere, and they're [Hamas] trying to obfuscate or delay.
When people say we've agreed to this or that, until you see the document and know what's in it, we have no idea if Hamas has really agreed to anything. And then I would remind everybody watching today, Hamas has agreed to a lot of things over time. They're the ones who broke the cease-fire. Israeli wasn't occupying Gaza since 2006. They've not been there. This is all a direct result of the decisions that Hamas has made. And so I'm hopeful that hostages will be returned. But I am equally hopeful that Israel will be permitted to continue the mission that they're on. They have to defeat Hamas. It can't be the case that this is half a loaf, because half a loaf will just end up with more October 7ths.
HAMAS SAYS THEY APPROVE FRAMEWORK FOR CEASE-FIRE AGREEMENT WITH ISRAEL
Hamas has agreed to a cease-fire agreement framework put forward by Egypt and Qatar, the terrorist group announced in a Monday statement.
The White House and State Department could not confirm the agreement as of press time, but a Hamas spokesperson confirmed it to Fox News Digital. Israel has not announced its stance on the framework. If it is approved, however, it would bring an extended pause to the fighting that has raged in Gaza for seven months.
"The fighter brother Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Hamas movement, had a phone call with the Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani, and with the Egyptian Minister of Intelligence, Mr. Abbas Kamel, and informed them of the Hamas movement’s approval of their proposal regarding the ceasefire agreement," the Hamas statement reads.
Fox News' Anders Hagstrom, Lawrence Richard and Trey Yingst contributed to this report.
