The head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, visited the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, this Wednesday for the seventh time since the start of the war in Gaza that broke out on October 7, but hardly any progress has been announced, since A ceasefire in the Strip, the main objective of much of the international community, remains unannounced. Coinciding with the Secretary of State’s trip, the Erez crossing has been opened, which will allow more humanitarian aid to access northern Gaza. Ending the Israeli blockade is one of the main demands of the United States. In his first approach during the conflict to the border between the two territories, Blinken has visited an aid distribution point at the Kerem Shalom pass, which separates Israel from Gaza, where he could hear Israeli artillery fire, Reuters reports. It is at that point, according to the UN, where Israel slows down the truck caravans by carrying out lengthy checks before allowing them access to the Palestinian enclave.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s swords of Damocles are multiplying after almost seven months of war in Gaza without achieving his objectives. They are now joining the demonstrations in the street to firmly commit to bringing the hostages home, the clashes between ministers that make the Government hang by a thread and the international pressure so that it does not invade Rafah with blood and fire. the possible announcement of sanctions against Israeli authorities, including Netanyahu himself, by the International Criminal Court (ICC). There is also no response from Hamas to the latest road map proposed by Israel to achieve the truce, although contacts are maintained in Egypt, where an Israeli delegation has traveled.
This ceasefire plan in Gaza is already quite detailed. The initiative foresees, in three phases (40, 42 and 42 days respectively) over four months, the phased release of hostages, the departure of Israeli troops from the population centers of Gaza, the return of the displaced to their places of origin and the beginning of the reconstruction of the Strip, according to details advanced this Wednesday by the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhabar. The proposal, which the United States and the United Kingdom have described as “very generous,” does not expressly include either the definitive withdrawal of the Israeli army from the enclave or the end of the war, as Hamas demands.
What was published by the Lebanese newspaper coincides with some details that, in recent days, have come to light from the negotiating parties, such as that, for the first phase, Israel would have lowered its claims of receiving 40 hostages to 33. Of course, Netanyahu has reminded Blinken that he will not agree to release them in exchange for ending the war, official Israeli sources confirmed to Times of Israel. The prime minister insists that the invasion of Rafah remains in his plans despite the fact that he does not even have the support of the United States, which reminds Israel of the need to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the Strip, something that Blinken has influenced. . That town, in the south of the Strip and on the border with Egypt, hosts around 1.5 million displaced people. “The United States cannot support a military operation in Rafah in the absence of a humanitarian plan,” recalled the Secretary of State.
One of the Hamas officials has used sarcasm to react to the pressure that the Palestinian group says it is receiving from Israel’s main ally to accept the ceasefire plan. “It is not strange that Blinken, known as the Foreign Minister of Israel, not the United States, makes such statements,” Sami Zuhri ironically told the Reuters agency, referring to the ultimatum issued by the Secretary of State to give his approval. to the roadmap to reach the truce.
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In the first phase of the truce, according to Al Akhbar, 33 captives would be released, including women (civilian and military), the sick, injured, and those over 50 years of age. Every three days and until day 33, Hamas would hand over three of them. In turn, Israel would release Palestinian prisoners from its jails, 20 in exchange for civilian hostages and 40 in the case of the military.
In parallel, the Israeli army would withdraw from population centers and the inhabitants could return to their places of residence while access to more humanitarian aid is opened. Among the convoys, there would be 50 fuel trucks that will help resume activity in health centers or essential businesses such as bakeries, thanks to generators. After 22 days, Israel would also withdraw from the Netzarim corridor that divides the Palestinian enclave between north and south, which would facilitate assistance to the northern area of Gaza, the most needy.
During the second phase, Hamas would continue to hand over live hostages, including male soldiers, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The agreement proposal, always according to that Lebanese media, leaves open the door for Palestinians sentenced to life imprisonment to be exiled abroad or to Gaza, as has already happened in similar agreements years ago.
In those weeks, the parties would seek to extend the truce period. In the third phase, the bodies would be exchanged by both sides, both hostages and Palestinian detainees in the hands of Israel. In parallel, an attempt would be made to open a five-year period of reconstruction of the Strip in which the Palestinians commit to not forming entities for military purposes, the newspaper adds. Al Akhbanr .
Meeting with hostage families
Blinken has also met with relatives of kidnapped people with American nationality, to whom he conveyed “cautious optimism” regarding the contacts that were being maintained, according to a statement from the forum that brings together the families. “We must never forget that there are 133 hostages of more than 20 nationalities languishing in captivity under Hamas terrorists. We urgently implore international efforts to guarantee the freedom of all innocent people unjustly detained,” they added after that meeting with the head of US diplomacy.
During the meeting that Blinken held with the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, he conveyed the same messages that he had emphasized in his previous stages of the trip in Saudi Arabia and Jordan. For the head of US diplomacy, it is Hamas that is hindering the agreement. “At the same time, as we work with tireless determination to achieve a ceasefire that brings the hostages home, we also have to focus on the people of Gaza who are suffering” to get humanitarian aid to them, he added.
Although the authorities of the Jewish State announced a month ago that they were going to enable the Erez border crossing, they have not done so until now, coinciding with Blinken’s visit, the army reported in a statement. These facilities give way to northern Gaza, the area most in need and where the UN warns that famine is closest. A convoy with aid from Jordan was attacked by Jewish settlers who oppose Israel allowing aid to be sent to Gazans, but was able to continue its route towards Erez, according to that same agency.
Fear of sanctions from the ICC
The head of the Israeli State has told Blinken that the priority must be to bring back the kidnapped people, but he also conveyed the growing concern in the high echelons of Israeli power about the possible sanctions that may come from the International Criminal Court ( TPI). “Trying to use the ICC against Israel, which is fighting terrorism, poses a clear danger today for democracies and for free peace-loving nations that follow the norms of international law, and I call on all our allies and friends to oppose and reject any effort of this type,” Herzog commented.
Israel has been moving for days at the highest level to try to stop the plans of the ICC, based in The Hague (Netherlands). Some analysts make Netanyahu very concerned about the possibility of possible arrest warrants being issued against him or other senior government or military officials. The prime minister’s management still does not receive the support of the majority of citizens.
Local media offer poll results in which the president does not fare well in the face of a population that demands that he leave and call elections. More than half of those consulted (54%) defend the ceasefire agreement to free the hostages and, also, more than half (53%) consider that the prime minister is not doing enough to get them out of Gaza. according to a query by Kan public radio. If elections were held at this time, the National Unity party, led by centrist Benny Gantz, a member of the war cabinet, would obtain 31 seats compared to 18 for Netanyahu’s Likud, another poll on Channel 12 details.
Since early Wednesday morning, a group of protesters, including some relatives of the hostages, have gathered in Tel Aviv at the doors of Blinken’s hotel, who, upon leaving, approached to talk briefly with they. This is his seventh visit to Israel since the war broke out on October 7. That day, hundreds of Hamas followers stormed the Gaza border, killing around 1,200 people and kidnapping around 250, according to official data. In these almost seven months of fighting, the Israeli military response in the Strip has already cost the lives of more than 34,500 Palestinians. The parties have only agreed to a one-week ceasefire so far, the last one in November, when 105 of those kidnapped in the Strip were released.
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