There is fighting everywhere at the moment, even in the Israeli government. Described by Biden as the author of the proposed three-phase ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas announced last Friday, the Israeli executive was instead put in great difficulty by the American president’s forcing. And it split further.
The issue remains the resumption of the Israeli offensive at the end of the six-week truce which should lead to the release of hostages in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian political prisoners. Benjamin Netanyahu insists that the war will not stop until the “total destruction of Hamas as a military and governing force.” An objective that is certainly not appreciated by the Islamic movement which seems willing to accept the agreement announced by Biden. However, he wants an official guarantee from the USA that Israel will implement all the conditions of the agreement and underlines his request for a lasting ceasefire.
NETANYAHU IS FOUND between the devil and the deep sea. Between Biden who is pushing for a ceasefire and his far-right allies, ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who threaten to bring down the government if Israel gives the green light to the agreement with Hamas. Ben Gvir reported yesterday that the prime minister refused to show him the draft of the proposed hostage agreement on Saturday evening. «Ben Gvir wants a war until total victory and the Israeli military reoccupation of Gaza. Any solution other than this feels like a defeat for him,” explains analyst Michael Warshansky. «At the same time – adds the analyst – Ben Gvir risks being overwhelmed by the protests of the families who ask for the release of the hostages through negotiation and not with military force».
Yesterday the death of three more hostages in Gaza was announced. The body of a fourth Israeli believed to be a prisoner in Gaza since October 7 was found not far from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
NETANYAHU WANTS TO SAVE his government and the alliance with the ultra-right that keeps him in power, without however appearing responsible for yet another failure of the negotiations. Therefore yesterday he insisted on the rejection of a permanent ceasefire and argued that there are differences between the proposal announced by the US president and the real Israeli one. His strategy is to push Hamas to reject the agreement. “The claim that we agreed to a ceasefire without our conditions being met is not true,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Knesset committee.
The American Administration for its part denies forcing by Biden, but is only putting pressure on Hamas. The Islamic movement «must accept the agreement proposed by Israel: it is good for the population in Gaza, it is good for the Israelis. It is a very serious agreement, it is the best to put an end to this conflict,” said John Kirby of the US National Security Council.
WHILE THE NEGOTIATION is heading towards a new stalemate, almost eight months after the Hamas attack and the start of the Israeli offensive, around 55% of all buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged by air raids and shelling. A satellite analysis carried out by the United Nations – which compares images from May 3 with those taken on October 15, 2023 shows that more than 137,000 structures have been affected. The bombings, in fact, continue intense and the Israeli army itself communicates that between Sunday and yesterday 50 air strikes were launched on Gaza. The death toll in the Strip has been updated to 36,479. At least 40 Palestinians have been killed in the last 24 hours, in particular in bombings on the refugee camps of Nuseirat and Bureji, Rafah and Khan Yunis. Regardless of the orders issued by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the Israeli army continues its advance inside Rafah where it encounters opposition from dozens of fighters from various Palestinian formations and not just from Hamas.
THE HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCY it is worsened by the reduced entry of aid caused by the closure of the Rafah crossing. Scott Anderson, of the UNRWA (UN), warned that his agency and other organizations are still unable to provide basic necessities, such as tents and drinking water, to Palestinian families. Water shortages, he added, are a major concern as temperatures rise.
