A few hours until the end of Passover week. Perhaps the last to stop Israel’s “military maneuver” on Rafah. Israel’s proposal, says Izzat al-Risheq – member of the Politburo of the “Islamic Resistance Movement” – “is still being studied”. A delegation of “politicians” led by Jalil Hayya – Yahya Sinwar’s deputy – left Doha for Cairo: “wide-ranging talks” with Egyptian mediators were on the agenda. A true diplomatic “pressure” that coincides with the arrival in Saudi Arabia of the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken for the extraordinary World Economic Forum.
Returning to Cairo, the exhausting negotiations for the release of the Israeli hostages held since 7 October are still on the table. The latest mediation – filtered by Cairo’s intelligence – after an Egyptian delegation held “largely positive and successful” talks with Israel on Friday. No details on the contents of the proposal which would overcome “the obstacles” that have so far prevented the truce. This is in Egypt, while Blinken’s appeal from Riyadh, if not a formal ultimatum, certainly has the tone of a “last call”: “Hamas has an extraordinarily generous proposal from Israel before it.” Hamas is “the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire.” “They must decide and they must decide quickly”, urges the US Secretary of State: we need a “right decision” that leads to a “fundamental change” in the negotiations. A no to the truce – Blinken then warned in a face-to-face meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum – would make Hamas “responsible for the continuation of the conflict in Gaza”.
A true “circular” of negotiations also in Riyadh, which this evening also involved the Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani: the negotiations “may be at a turning point,” he said. British Foreign Minister David Cameron’s “endorsement” of the US diplomatic plan was strong: a “very generous” proposal made to Hamas which would provide, according to the British minister, 40 days of ceasefire, the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners, in exchange for the release of the hostages. “I hope Hamas accepts this agreement” while “all eyes in the world should be on them” for them to say yes. An opportunity, the summit in Riyadh, to define the details of the security pact between the United States and Saudi Arabia, indicated in the Abraham Accords: an agreement to which they are “very, very close” stated Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud. Pressure on Hamas, however, is not equivalent to a refusal to give the go-ahead for the attack on Rafah, the city on the southern border of the Gaza Strip. Also speaking at the extraordinary World Economic Forum in Riyadh, Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly stated that “we must do our best” to avoid the attack on Rafah which “will cause disasters and displacement of Palestinians”.
For the Jordanian Prime Minister Bashar al-Hasawneh an operation in Rafah “would be a disaster”. The concern to avoid a new escalation is also shared by the president of the CEI, the cardinal Matteo Zuppi: «If there is no ceasefire and the appeal is not accepted, it is a cause for further suffering and the fire produces more fire», declared the archbishop of Bologna.
Matter that thickens the already complicated agenda of Blinken, expected today in Israel to “close the circle”, while the feverish work of diplomacy does not stop the trail of blood and death in the Strip: at least 25 dead in Rafah, including at least three women, due to Israeli air raids. According to Hamas Health, the victims are 34,488. Fighting that worsens the humanitarian emergency day by day. Two vessels from the Freedom Flotilla, the humanitarian aid mission ready to set sail, were denied permission to set sail. Meanwhile, the World Central Kitchen – which lost 7 humanitarian workers on April 2 – has announced the resumption of activities. The truce, however, still remains a mirage.
