Insurgent Democratic presidential challenger Rep. Dean Phillips would not have accepted the terms of the hostage release deal the Biden administration recently negotiated with Hamas terrorists, the Minnesota Democrat said this week.
Under the terms of the agreement, set to go into effect Friday, 50 women and children being held captive by Hamas in Gaza will be freed in exchange for the release of a number of jailed Palestinians in Israel.
The deal also includes a temporary cease-fire in Gaza that will last four days.
Phillips, who launched his effort to primary the 80-year-old president last month, slammed the deal, arguing that it doesn’t do enough for the Americans being held hostage in Palestinian territory.
“No, because we have nine Americans held hostage right now by Hamas, [who] have been there for six weeks, including at least one child,” Phillips, 54, said during a CNN interview Tuesday when asked if he would accept the hostage deal.
“And by now, I would have expected American special forces to perhaps play a hand in extracting them,” Phillips added. “I think it’s absurd, shocking and dismaying, that six weeks later, we still have American hostages held by a terror organization in Gaza.”
On Wednesday, the congressman clarified in an X post that he is “pleased by the release of some hostages and a pause for humanitarian aid to reach gaza” but reiterated that “it’s unacceptable that american citizens remain held by hamas.”
“[I]t has been over six weeks and is inexcusable,” Phillips argued.
The Israeli government, which has long rejected talk of a cease-fire absent the release of all of Hamas’ hostages, approved the deal Tuesday following intense hours-long cabinet meetings.
The agreement came together after weeks of talks between Israel, Hamas, the US and Egypt, moderated by the government of Qatar.
Should both sides hold up their ends of the deal, the agreement will lead to the first major release of hostages since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on the Jewish state, which saw more than 1,200 people massacred and about 240 others kidnapped by Hamas.
Israeli airstrikes and ground attacks targeting the terror group have killed an estimated 12,000 people, according to Hamas-run Palestinian authorities.
