Former Biden adviser says Netanyahu made 2024 Gaza deal ‘impossible’

What Happened

Phil Gordon, national security adviser to former US vice president Kamala Harris, wrote on X on Saturday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu added 'so many of his own conditions' to a 2024 Gaza hostage-ceasefire framework that a deal became 'impossible for another six months.' Gordon claimed nearly 9,000 more Palestinians were killed during that period and more Israeli hostages died, including six executed by Hamas in August. He said the added Israeli demands included keeping forces along Gaza's entire border with Egypt and a new mechanism to screen Gazans returning north, both of which were dropped in the deal finally concluded in January 2025. Gordon also said that in July 2024, Hamas had accepted the basic framework, dropping its demand that Israel commit to a permanent ceasefire before any hostages were released, but Netanyahu then added conditions against the advice of his own security chiefs.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The allegations reopen a contested narrative about responsibility for the stalled 2024 ceasefire-hostage deal and the resulting casualties, with direct implications for US-Israel relations and Netanyahu's political accountability. Gordon's public criticism, alongside Avi Gil's interview, challenges efforts by Netanyahu supporters to use Brett McGurk's book to vindicate Netanyahu's wartime conduct, and underscores divisions within the Biden administration over whether Washington applied enough pressure on Israel.

Watch For

Watch for whether Netanyahu or his office denies Gordon's and Gil's claims, and whether further former Biden administration officials or Israeli security figures publicly corroborate or contest the account. Also monitor any follow-up coverage from Channel 12, reactions from Brett McGurk, and potential impacts on Israeli domestic political debate or US congressional scrutiny of the Biden administration's Gaza policy.