By Ranjan Solomon
Benjamin Netanyahu has called on mediators from the United States, Qatar and Egypt to “pressure” Hamas to accept a deal. Israel itself may not be looking for a long-lasting peace. It has taken some big hits in terms of army personnel. Sympathy in the region for its Israel is rock bottom. Its losses have come from several quarters. Reservists are deserting the army and new recruits are just not there. While regimes in the region have not been outspoken; their appraisal of the mood of their people is that it is irrevocably pro-Palestine. Given the ongoing genocide, which is deemed to be the worst in living memory, Israel is losing the support of even its own population- not in mass numbers. But the Peace Movement is capturing the moment and building up. Netanyahu is also a nervous man. He’s in a damned-if you-do, and damned if-you-don’t. An end to war would be a pathway to jail for crimes that have not tried and jailed him because he is constitutionally protected for as long as he is in powers It is hard to see how long he can sustain with the façade of confidence.
Even as he seeks a cease-fire, Hamas will want to read between the lines after the misstep of Oslo. Palestinians cannot afford another replica of Oslo. Any peace process must be just and permanent and guaranteed in ways that Israel and its Western allies do not construct ploys that will be conveniently against Palestinian interests.
Even as Israel seeks to talk peace, they are using Palestinians as human shields in booby-trapped tunnels. This is cowardice as much as it is immoral. Israel has further reeked so much havoc that the international humanitarian agencies are losing count of just how many people have died. The Gaza rubble likely conceals the horrific death toll of 40,000.
Alongside the pressure of pushing along peace talks and a cease fire, the US is playing its own arms trade games and has approved about $20 billion in new weapons sales to Israel over the next several years. This comes amid fading hopes that negotiations would lead to a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release.
Everything about the cease fire comes with a big IF. The pessimism supersedes the optimism. With the prospects of a regional war, prompted by Israeli killings of important adversaries, peace may be tough bargain.
In solidarity
18 August 2024
Ranjan Solomon
On behalf of MLN Palestine Updates