FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
JERUSALEM – Either Riyadh or Rafah. It arrives in the Saudi capital tomorrow Antony Blinkenthe US Secretary of State, and with other international leaders discusses the situation in Gaza and in the city towards the border with Egypt. It is unlikely that he will put it down as bluntly as Thomas Friedman, who in a comment on the
New York Times
defines the crossroads at which the prime minister would find himself Benjamin Netanyahu: a road leads to the invasion of the last square kilometers in the Strip, the other to normalization with the Gulf monarchy. The columnist is always well informed about the opinions and strategies of the White House and warns that the president Joe Biden could decide to limit supplies of some weaponsif Israel proceeded with the incursion anyway.
Blinken himself, before his trip to the Middle East, explained to
CNN
that a project for the opening of diplomatic relations between the two nations “can be prepared even before the truce together with a plan that leads to the birth of a Palestinian state”. The president also intervenes in Riyadh Abu Mazen which according to the Americans should take control of Gaza at the end of the conflict.
Bibi’s moves
Netanyahu continues to oppose, he is now on the election campaign – he knows he would be defeated in the early vote – and he wants to present himself as the leader of the right against the return of the Palestinian Authority, from which Hamas took away its dominion over Gaza 17 years ago with an armed coup. Like the prime minister who does not give in to the US leader: the friction does not decrease in level, even if Washington has for now suspended sanctions against a Tsahal battalion for violation of human rights in the West Bank.
The army engineers, as shown in the photos taken on April 18 by Planet Labs satellites, they are building semi-permanent structures in the Strip. The government proclaims – always in contrast with the United States – that it wants to keep the troops inside the so-called Netzarim corridor for a long time, from the name of the colony that existed until the evacuation in 2005: it cuts the 363 square kilometers in two and the images highlight the two camps prepared near the Mediterranean and east towards the border with Israel.
New videos
There are barracks and areas for population control, should politicians and the general staff decide to allow the displaced to return to the north in rubble. The seaside base seems not far from the area where the food is prepared pier for the arrival of humanitarian aid unloaded on the floating dock that the Americans are setting up.
Blinken will also address negotiations for a pause in fighting. A Hamas boss explains on Hezbollah television, its ally in Lebanon, that the group is studying the new truce proposal in exchange for the release of at least 33 hostages including women, minors, elderly and sick peoplebut warns that the main demands remain a permanent ceasefire – almost 35,000 Palestinians have been killed – and a total Israeli withdrawal.
The captors of the terrorist organization continue the strategy of anguish for the family and of psychological warfare by showing the new videos of two hostages: Keith Siegel, also an American citizen, was taken away in his car on October 7 from kibbutz Kfar Aza together with his wife Aviva, freed at the end of last November. He is exhausted, he bursts into tears and often has to stop. In another video he appears Omri Miransays he has been a prisoner for 202 days, the conflict has now reached 204. DF
