Hamas playing for high stakes in ceasefire push

I feel sorry for the Biden administration which is so desperate to end the war in Gaza. The latest ceasefire proposal looks pretty good but the Hamas leaders concealed below ground in Gaza are playing a canny game. Knowing how much the Americans want a foreign policy breakthrough, they have come up with their own version of a new deal. Although Antony Blinken, the ever-tired-looking US secretary of state, has only said that the Hamas counter-proposal, or parts of it, is unacceptable, without going into detail. But it's clear what Hamas is demanding. They want not just a ceasefire but a total end to the war and the removal of all Israeli troops and as quickly as possible. They have probably set a timeline which Israel would never agree to because Benjamin Netanyahu is not going to give up until Hamas, and especially the two main leaders, has been eliminated. Netanyahu wants to finish the job, so there is no way he is going to agree to a timeline set by Hamas. He and only he will want to set the timeline, any timeline. It looks like the latest ceasefire proposal, approved by the United Nations Security Council, is going to go the way of all the other proposals over the last few months. Poor Blinken, poor Biden and poor Palestinian people who want a life without war.