Netanyahu Says Gaza Cease-Fire Deal Not Close as War Stretches On

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that negotiators aren’t close to reaching a cease-fire deal to end the Israel–Hamas war after 11 months of fighting. Speaking with “Fox & Friends” on Thursday, Netanyahu said a claim that a cease-fire deal is around 90 percent complete is “exactly inaccurate.” “There’s a story, a narrative out there, that there’s a deal out there … that’s just a false narrative,” he continued. The comments contrast with recent remarks from President Joe Biden and other members of his administration that a cease-fire deal is nearly complete. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during a July 19 talk with the Aspen Institute think tank, said that the deal was “in the 10-yard line.”...