This is correct, which likely means no hostage deal, which means Israel will go into Rafah. The self-defeating nature of this is a separate question from its (lack of) merit: the president keeps incentivizing all the behavior he says he doesn't want.

Shaiel Ben-Ephraim

@academic_la · Twitter · 2024-05-08 22:16 UTC

This move takes away any leverage Israel could have achieved from even the threat of going into Rafah. It completely undermines the Israeli bargaining position for the hostage release talks. It is pulling out the rug at a crucial moment.