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Aseel Saleh reports on comments by Hamas and Israeli officials ahead of ceasefire talks scheduled for Thursday, which Hamas now says it will not attend despite Iran offer.
U.S. President Joe Biden announces Israel’s three-phase ceasefire proposal for Gaza on May 31. (White House, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
By Aseel SalehPeoples Dispatch
Israeli media outlets published leaked statements by Israel’s Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant about the stalemate of captives-for-prisoners swap talks during a private briefing for a parliamentary committee on Monday.
In them, Gallant blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for obstructing the talks saying: “The reason a hostage deal is stalling is in part because of Israel.”
Gallant also described Netanyahu’s promises of “absolute victory” in the ongoing aggression on the Gaza Strip and his idea of destroying the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) as “gibberish.”
Netanyahu responded by accusing Gallant of adopting an “anti-Israel narrative” in a statement on Monday. “Israel has only one choice: to achieve a complete victory,” the statement from his office added.
Recent recriminations between the top Israeli officials, who have led a genocidal aggression on the Gaza strip for more than 10 months, are not the first sign of the tension within the Israeli government.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin with Netanyahu and Gallant in Tel Aviv, Oct. 13, 2023. (DoD, Chad J. McNeeley, CC BY 2.0)
Last month, Netanyahu and other Israeli ministers accused Gallant of playing politics by refusing to support a draft law to enlist ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jews without earning broad consensus.
The comments regarding Gaza’s ceasefire and captives deal surfaced as the international community has been pushing forward negotiations to avoid the outbreak of a regional war.
[Meanwhile, Iran said it would not retaliate against Israel for its assassination of Hama’s political leader on Iranian soil only if a permanent ceasefire is reached in Gaza.]
[But The Guardian reported Wednesday that:
“Hamas said on Wednesday it would not take part in a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks slated for Thursday in Qatar, dimming hopes for a negotiated truce that Iranian sources say could hold back an Iranian attack on Israel. The US has said it expects indirect talks to go ahead as planned in Qatar’s capital Doha on Thursday, and that a ceasefire agreement was still possible, Reuters reported. However, Axios reported that US secretary of state Antony Blinken has postponed a trip to the Middle East that had been expected to begin on Tuesday.”]
“Hamas said on Wednesday it would not take part in a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks slated for Thursday in Qatar, dimming hopes for a negotiated truce that Iranian sources say could hold back an Iranian attack on Israel.
The US has said it expects indirect talks to go ahead as planned in Qatar’s capital Doha on Thursday, and that a ceasefire agreement was still possible, Reuters reported. However, Axios reported that US secretary of state Antony Blinken has postponed a trip to the Middle East that had been expected to begin on Tuesday.”]
Hamas, in a statement on Sunday, had called on mediators to present a plan “based on [U.S. President Joe] Biden’s May 31 ceasefire proposal, the framework laid out by mediators [in] Qatar and Egypt on May 6, and U.N. Security Council Resolution 2735.”
[See: Middle East a Tinderbox After Assassinations]
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, center, meeting with the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei, right, on July 31, hours before his death. (Khamenei.ir, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0)
The United Kingdom, France and Germany issued a joint statement on Monday endorsing the joint statement issued by the United States, Qatar and Egypt on Aug. 8 on Gaza’s ceasefire and captives’ deal negotiations:
“We, the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, welcome the tireless work of our partners in Qatar, Egypt and the United States towards an agreement on a ceasefire and the release of hostages. We endorse the joint statement of HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, President Sisi and President Biden calling for the immediate resumption of negotiations. We agree that there can be no further delay.”“We are deeply concerned by the heightened tensions in the region, and united in our commitment to de-escalation and regional stability. In this context, and in particular, we call on Iran and its allies to refrain from attacks that would further escalate regional tensions and jeopardize the opportunity to agree a ceasefire and the release of hostages.”
“We, the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, welcome the tireless work of our partners in Qatar, Egypt and the United States towards an agreement on a ceasefire and the release of hostages. We endorse the joint statement of HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, President Sisi and President Biden calling for the immediate resumption of negotiations. We agree that there can be no further delay.”
“We are deeply concerned by the heightened tensions in the region, and united in our commitment to de-escalation and regional stability. In this context, and in particular, we call on Iran and its allies to refrain from attacks that would further escalate regional tensions and jeopardize the opportunity to agree a ceasefire and the release of hostages.”
[Related: US to Iran: Only Israel May Escalate]
The statement addressed Iran and its allies without even pointing out the non-stop horrific massacres carried out by Israel in Gaza, Lebanon and the occupied West Bank, or even Israel’s violations of the other countries’ sovereignty by assassinating top leaders in the region within their territories including in Lebanon, Syria and Iran.
[See: Patrick Lawrence: The Murder of Ismail Haniyeh]
On Monday night, Abu Obaida, the spokesperson of Hamas’ armed wing the Al-Qassam Brigades, issued a statement on Telegram, regarding some Israeli captives in Gaza.
“Two guards assigned to guard Israeli hostages killed an Israeli captive and wounded two others in separate incidents. Attempts are underway to save their lives,” the statement said.
Abu Obaida held the Israeli government accountable for the incidents, which he considered as reactions to Israeli massacres being committed against Palestinians in Gaza that “affect the lives of Zionist prisoners.”
Aseel Saleh is a correspondent for Peoples Dispatch.
This article is from Peoples Dispatch.
Views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
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