Alon Pinkas: ‘Call it what you want,’ a Gaza ceasefire deal ‘would end the war the way we know it’

President Biden is ramping up his pressure campaign on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government ahead of the impending ground invasion in Rafah, Gaza, which has been serving as a refuge for 1.5 million Palestinains as Israeli troops raided the north. Raf Sanchez and Ambassador Alon Pinkas, the former Israeli consul general in New York, joins Andrea Mitchell to discuss the invasion and the potential for a ceasefire deal. “Some of those guys are mass murderers, and they don't deserve to see the light of day. But the deal is a deal and this is how you negotiate these kinds of things,” Pinkas tells Andrea. “But the urgency that Mr. Netanyahu does not share with the Biden administration is the ceasefire component of this. And you know, you could call it cessation of hostilities, and you can call it a lull and you can call it a pause, an extended humanitarian pause. Call it what you want. It's a ceasefire and, de facto, it would end the war the way we know it.”Feb. 14, 2024