Jerusalem, Aug 19 (EFE).- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is deploying all his diplomatic power in Israel to reach a ceasefire agreement with the Islamist group Hamas after more than 10 months of war, while the Israeli Army continues its fighting in the devastated Gaza Strip.
On his ninth visit to Israel since the war broke out on October 7, Blinken said that now was “a decisive moment, probably the best and perhaps the last opportunity” to reach a truce, which would allow the release of the hostages that Hamas still holds in Gaza and the delivery of more humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave.
But receiving him in his Jerusalem office for nearly three hours, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that he would remain “firm” in negotiations with Hamas so as not to give in on “Israel’s security needs.”
During his meeting in Tel Aviv with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the top US diplomat made it clear that his country wants a deal as soon as possible, also to reduce military tensions throughout the Middle East.
“We are very concerned about the possibility of attacks from Iran, from (the Lebanese Shiite militia) Hezbollah and other actors (…) The United States is taking steps to deploy forces here to deter any attack, and if necessary, to defend (Israel),” Blinken said.
Iran, Israel’s greatest enemy, has said it supports ceasefire negotiations despite its differences with the United States and its belief that the Jewish state does not want a truce.
The Islamic Republic, an ally of pro-Palestinian militias in the Middle East, also said it was not seeking to increase tensions in the region, but reiterated its right to “punish” Israel for the attack – which it attributes to Israel – in Tehran on July 31, in which the then political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed.
Diplomatic battle
Netanyahu on Sunday urged the mediating countries – the United States, Qatar and Egypt – to put pressure on Hamas and not Israel, and reiterated his firmness on two key points: not ceasing the military offensive until the Islamist group is dismantled and not withdrawing his troops from the strategic Philadelphia Corridor, which covers the entire border line between Gaza and Egypt.
Israel’s negotiating team met with mediators in Doha over the weekend, but Hamas did not attend, demanding that instead of new negotiations, the implementation of what had already been agreed in previous months based on a proposal by US President Joe Biden be implemented.
“The new proposal” that emerged in Doha “responds to the conditions imposed by Netanyahu and is consistent with them,” Hamas lamented on Sunday, rejecting what was agreed in Qatar.
The Islamist group criticises the fact that the new proposal does not include a definitive ceasefire or the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, and that it agrees to Netanyahu’s “insistence” that the Israeli army continue to control the Netzarim crossing (which connects the north with the south of the Strip), the border crossing of the Gazan city of Rafah (with Egypt) and the Philadelphia Corridor.
Despite the intransigence, Netanyahu assured Blinken that an Israeli delegation would continue negotiations in Cairo this week, according to local media.
According to leaks to the press, the new proposal stipulates that a permanent ceasefire would be negotiated once the provisional truce has been initiated, although it does not speak of a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Strip; while Egypt and Israel have reportedly agreed that Israeli troops would be deployed in the Philadelphia corridor in exchange for opening the Rafah crossing and leaving it under Palestinian security.
Fighting in Gaza
Despite the push for negotiations, the Israeli offensive in Gaza continues, and on Sunday Israeli ground troops extended their operations to parts of Khan Yunis (south) and, for the first time, to the town of Deir al Balah (center), where nearly a million displaced by the war are taking refuge.
The Israeli army reported the destruction of a 1.5-kilometer-long tunnel used by Hamas in Khan Yunis, an important area in the south of the enclave that has historically been a stronghold of Palestinian militants, and where yesterday soldiers killed Palestinian journalist Ibrahim Mohreb and wounded reporter Salma Qadumi.
In the last few hours alone, some 65 people have died in the Gaza Strip, where since the war broke out there have been 40,139 dead, 92,743 wounded, 10,000 missing under the rubble and 1.9 million displaced people surviving an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
The war began with a Hamas attack on Israel that left some 1,200 dead and 251 kidnapped, of whom 111 remain in Gaza, although at least 39 have lost their lives.
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2024-08-21 01:22:29
