Israel at War: Week 20
“All politics is local.” In Israel, two political moves illustrate this point. First, President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken appear to coerce Israel into accepting their policy regarding both the hostage negotiations and invading Rafah. President Biden said, “My national security adviser says we’re close, close. We’re not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a cease fire. Ramadan is coming up and there has been agreement by the Israelis that they would not engage in activities during Ramadan as well, in order to give us time to get the hostages out.”
Interestingly, Hamas considered his remarks as “premature and not reflecting the situation on the ground.” Hamas leader Ahmad Abdel-Hadi said, “The resistance is not interested in giving up on any of its demands, and what is proposed does not meet what it had requested. We will not give up on ending the war.”
The proposal has Israel halting reconnaissance operations over Gaza for eight hours a day, committing to allow 500 trucks a day of humanitarian aid to enter Gaza per day, and allow the entry of equipment and fuel to rehabilitate hospitals and bakeries. Israel would also allow heavy machinery, equipment and fuel to remove rubble and assist with other humanitarian purposes, while Hamas would pledge to not use the machines and equipment to attack Israel.” The proposal also “includes a 40 day truce during which Hamas would release around forty hostages-including women under 19 years old and over 50, and the sick in return for around 400 security prisoners, at a 10 to 1 ratio.”
Concerning Hamas’s demands to end the war, Prime Minister Netanyahu answered with a single word, “Delusional.” Concerning President Biden’s comments, Israeli officials said, “Biden’s comments came as a surprise and were not made in coordination with the country’s leadership.”
The second move that illustrates that all politics is local is that elections occurred in Israel after two previous failed elections due to the war. “The war against Hamas forced two postponements of the vote, but it will finally take place on Tuesday, except in those parts of the country that have been evacuated.”
Concerning the hostage negotiations, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s evaluation summarizes them perfectly, they are delusional. In a negotiation both sides must trust each other. The problem is, Israel cannot trust Hamas. So the war continues until Israel achieves its aim of destroying and dismantling Hamas.
(Source: The Times of Israel)
