Benjamin Netanyahu he does not change his line, he rejects what he defines as the “surrender” requested by Hamas and he once again rejects the key idea of the American and European peace plan: the birth of a Palestinian state. In a speech broadcast on video yesterday, the Israeli prime minister reiterated that the war continues, because “military pressure” is a “necessary condition” to achieve one of the main objectives of the conflict, namely the “liberation ofhe “Israeli hostages”.
With a political agreement, Netanyahu would instead have to accept the release of a large part of the Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, as happened during the November truce, and probably also take a step back from the government. A prospect that he wants to avoid at all costs: «Hamas calls for the withdrawal of our forces from Gaza and the release of all murderers and rapists. If we agreed on this, the sacrifice of our soldiers would be in vain,” he said. The Israeli war cabinet is for now proceeding on the path of war: operations in Khan Yunis will expand, Defense Minister Gallant promised.
(reuters)
But the toll of the conflict is wearing away political and international support for Israel. The number of deaths has exceeded 25 thousand, data released by the Hamas-governed Gaza Ministry of Health which the Biden administration also considers reliable, according to US Undersecretary Barbara Leaf underestimated. At least 16 thousand victims are women and minors, the UN says. It is the reason why the Americans have intensified diplomatic pressure in recent days and are trying to restart negotiations.
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Yesterday, the envoy for the Middle East, Brett McGurk, arrived in Egypt and will mediate with the Egyptians and Qataris to bring Israel and Hamas back to the table. According to the Wall Street Journal, the American plan is divided into three phases over 90 days and provides for the start of a ceasefire, the gradual release of all hostages – first the civilians and then the military – in exchange for hundreds of detainees Palestinians in Israel and a slow withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Strip.
The political horizon he has in mind Biden is broader, it is a “grand deal” for the Middle East that includes the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia in exchange for an irreversible path to a Palestinian state and a role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza in the post-Hamas era.
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Netanyahu he is not ready to accept such a plan. “As long as they exist there will not be a Palestinian state, Gaza must be demilitarized and kept under our control”, he repeated again last night, evoking that formula – Israel’s control over the entire territory “west of the Jordan” – which worries the the American administration because it erases any prospect of the two states. It is a denial that does not even please the Europeans, who are aligned with Washington on the need for a state of Palestine to be born.
The Council of EU Foreign Affairs Ministers is meeting today in Brussels: the naval mission in the Red Sea will be discussed but also, writes the FT, the proposal to the States, circulated by Borrell’s office, to «explain the consequences they envisage to adopt in the event of commitment or non-commitment” on the part of Israel to accept the creation of a State for Palestine. This is a sort of non-paper which was released at official level on the eve of the summit and which will be presented to ministers today but which, according to Repubblica sources, will not have the support of the 27 because it is considered by many to be too unbalanced.