FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
JERUSALEM – The before and after. And always Benjamin Netanyahu in the middle with his 13 years in power out of the last 15. The documents released yesterday tell that the prime minister had been warned of the threats, that “enemies were waiting to see how much Israel would weaken itself” due to the protests against the government’s anti-democratic justice plan. Or how much the possibility of “an unexpected attack” opened up. Bibi defends himself by replying that the military intelligence files they did not identify a Hamas invasion in the south, as happened on October 7th.
The prime minister, like the rest of the politicians, is preparing for the possible commission that will have to investigate the responsibilities for the strategic disaster, responsibility that he has never taken on, unlike the leaders of the army and the secret services. A state investigation is what Benny Gantz is asking for, the opposition leader who entered the restricted war council for the emergency: after the ultimatum – the government must change course or “I’ll leave” on 8 June – the former general is increasing the pressure on his electoral opponent at the beyond calls for unity.
The after is that plan for the management of the Strip, where the Palestinians killed are reaching 36 thousand according to estimates by the Ministry of Health in Gaza which does not distinguish between civilians and fighters. Netanyahu continues to postpone any hypothesis – apart from the repeated no to a role for the Palestinian Authority – this is how the international community takes its first steps on the map of the 363 square kilometers of which the fundamentalists took control with weapons in 2007, taking it away from President Abu Mazen.
The White House – he writes Politic — is negotiating with the European Union to manage the Rafah crossing into Egypt, closed after the start of the Israeli incursion into the town: Yoav Gallant, the Minister of Defense, proclaims that the invasion will intensify.
Until 17 years ago – and the Hamas coup – EUBAM (which also included the Italian Carabinieri) he controlled materials and people on the passage from Egypt towards the Palestinian territories. The Israelis would be willing to accept a presence of the Ramallah Authority on the border, but unofficially, also to protect these forces from Hamas attacks. After the decision taken by 3 European countries – Spain, Ireland and Norway – to recognize the Palestinian state, Netanyahu threatens ‘consequences’ and wants to punish Abu Mazen by withholding the funds he should send him.
The aftermath is also a solution to the clashes of the last 230 days with the Lebanese Hezbollah: sirens rang out in the hills of the Upper Galilee, at least 30 rockets were launched on the now evacuated villages, Tsahal’s air force killed a commander of the Iranian-backed Shiite paramilitaries. Netanyahu visited Northern Command officers and promised to push Hezbollah away from the border, the Americans continue to look for a diplomatic solution. How they push for the government in Jerusalem to return to negotiations for the release of the last hostages: the war cabinet has decided to resume negotiations, even if it is now clear that the last attempt failed because the Egyptian mediators put on the table a proposal accepted by Hamas but which no one else had seen.
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