stop haggling over truce. 215 rockets hit Israel from Lebanon

“It’s time to stop haggling.” If telling the truth were enough to be listened to, the words of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would put an end to the war between Hamas and Israel. Twelve days after President Joe Biden announced a truce offeron which the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already made several distinctions, came the response from Hamas. «Positive» for the organization that commands the Gaza Strip. But “a refusal” in the reading of the Jewish State. The gap is “bridgeable”, insists the head of American diplomacy, and the United States will present “concrete” proposals for the post-war period within a few weeks. Not all of Hamas’ requests are “realizable”, Blinken points out, and “if one party keeps changing its positions you wonder if it is proceeding in good faith”. For its part, Hamas accused Blinken of being “part of the problem, not the solution.” The Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, called for a “permanent” and “just solution”, with the creation of a Palestinian state that lives “alongside Israel” in peace.

In his response, examined by the mediators of Egypt, the USA and Qatar, Hamas asks for guarantees signed by Washington “confirming the ceasefire, the withdrawal of the military, the reconstruction of Gaza and the exchange” between hostages and detainees. To the Egyptian broadcaster al-Qahera, a senior official of the organization said: «The response paves the way for an agreement. She is responsible, serious and positive. The position of the Israeli media is instead a sign that an attempt is being made to evade obligations.” Netanyahu’s office did not respond, but an official said on condition of anonymity that Hamas’ counterproposal “changes all the main and most significant parameters” and therefore amounts to a rejection.
It is nothing new that Israel aims to bring home the 120 hostages, dead and alive, without putting an end to the conflict. And that Hamas does not give up on calling for a permanent cessation of hostilities. «The conditions of the agreement are compatible with the achievement of our objectives» is the réfrain in Jerusalem. If Netanyahu accepted the withdrawal of troops, the far right of the ultra-Orthodox, which has 13 of the 63 parliamentarians in the majority (out of the 120 in the Knesset), would bring down the government.
Reaching a ceasefire in Gaza, Blinken said speaking from Doha, would also be “the best way to find a diplomatic solution between Israel and Lebanon.” After the killing in a raid of an important Hezbollah commander, Taleb Sami Abdallah, volleys of fire fell several times on northern Israel (from which more than 80 thousand civilians have had to leave since 7 October, living as displaced persons in hotels). At least 215 rockets, the army informs. There are no injuries, but new forest fires have broken out. While an official from the Shiite terrorist group promised that “the intensity, strength, quantity and quality of our attacks will increase.”
The atmosphere among Israelis is also inflamed when the UN is mentioned. «His actions are all at the service of a narrow political agenda against Israel» thundered from Geneva the ambassador to the United Nations, Eilon Shahar, referring to the report of the independent commission of inquiry established by the UN Council on Human Rights to shed light on Gaza. Chaired by the South African jurist Navi Pillay, its members include jurists Miloon Kothari, Indian, and Chris Sidoti, Australian. The conclusions it reached are no different from those of the prosecutor’s office of the International Criminal Court in The Hague: Hamas and Israel would both be responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
The report denounces “a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population of Gaza”. “We have found – we read – that crimes against humanity have been committed such as extermination, murder, gender persecution against Palestinian men and boys, forced transfer, torture and inhuman and cruel treatment.” The document, of over 200 pages, will be presented to the Human Rights Council on 19 June.