Prospects for brand new cease-fire dim as Israel presses marketing campaign in southern Gaza

By Carolina Stanton On Dec 10, 2023

The nation that helped dealer a string of prisoner-for-hostages swaps between Israel and Hamas militants warned Sunday that the window for future offers could also be closing as Israeli forces intensify assaults in southern Gaza.

The exchanges, carried out throughout a weeklong cease-fire within the Palestinian enclave, briefly raised hopes of an extended break within the preventing and elevated help for besieged Gaza residents caught up within the preventing.

But Israel, backed by the Biden administration, has argued {that a} prolonged cease-fire would solely give Hamas leaders, whose Oct. 7 murderous rampage into southern Israel ignited the most recent spherical of preventing, time to regroup and re-arm.

Officials in Qatar, which performed a key mediating function within the first cease-fire, mentioned Sunday the resumption of fierce preventing within the northern and southern components of Gaza has made future diplomatic efforts rather more troublesome.

“What happened in the fallout of this pause, actually we feel disappointment that the parties didn’t give a chance for further efforts to be taking place,” Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, who can also be the oil-rich nation’s overseas minister, advised a discussion board in Doha Sunday, including his authorities “is not going to give up” on its efforts in Gaza.

“It always takes two parties to be willing to [agree to] such an engagement,” Mr. al-Thani mentioned. “Unfortunately we aren’t seeing the identical willingness that we now have seen within the weeks earlier than in … each events.

Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi advised a tv interviewer Sunday that there was no deadline to finish the warfare whereas Hamas stays intact and greater than 150 Israelis and overseas nationals stay hostages.

“The evaluation that this can’t be measured in weeks is correct, and I’m not sure it can be measured in months,” he mentioned.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, showing Sunday on “CNN,” once more tried to stroll a messaging tightrope for the administration, repeatedly backing Israel‘s right to defend itself and punish Hamas while pleading for greater protections for Gaza civilians.

Gaza health officials say the number of total Palestinian deaths in the Israeli operation after Oct. 7 has now topped 17,700, and reports of heavy civilian deaths have sparked fury across the Arab world and growing international pressure for Israel to pull back. The Palestinian estimates cannot be confirmed from outside sources.

Some 1,200 people were killed and around 240 soldiers and civilians were taken hostage in the initial Hamas surprise attack.

“Israel needs to be able to deal with this to protect itself, to prevent October 7 from happening again,” Mr. Blinken said. “But, as it does that, it’s crucial that civilians be protected.”

While Mr. Blinken mentioned there are fixed talks between the U.S. and Israel, questions on the right way to conduct the warfare and the way lengthy the preventing will final are “decisions for Israel to make.”

Israeli officers argue that Hamas, which Israel, the U.S. and lots of Western nations think about to be a terrorist group, is in charge for finding lots of its navy outposts in closely civilian areas.

But the stress on the federal government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was evident Friday, when the U.S. was compelled to make use of its veto to dam an emergency U.N. Security Council decision demanding an instantaneous humanitarian cease-fire within the battle. The vote within the council was 13-1, with solely Britain abstaining.

Having already moved into the northern finish of the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces Sunday had been reportedly pushing their manner into the middle of Khan Younis, the most important metropolis in southern Gaza and a spot the place many refugees from the preventing within the north had taken shelter.

With preventing now underway all through Gaza and the borders sealed towards fleeing overseas, help teams mentioned the two.3 million residents of Gaza face an more and more not possible alternative when searching for refuge.

Mr. Blinken, talking individually on ABC’s “This Week,” defended a brand new Pentagon arms bundle for Israel, together with a portion that bypassed the common congressional approval course of on an emergency foundation.

“We want to make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against Hamas,” Mr. Blinken mentioned.

“A small portion of what has been requested is going through on an emergency basis that is moving quickly so that Israel can have what it needs in hand. But virtually everything else is going through the regular order, through Congress.”

Again noting the heavy civilian toll of the Gaza preventing, Mr. Blinken added, “When it comes to the weapons that we transfer, the rules that go along with them, those rules apply to Israel as they do to any other country, including the way they’re used and the need, the imperative of respecting international humanitarian law.”

— This article was based mostly partially on wire service stories.