|
Trending Topics
|
Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-862145
International Condemnation of Israel Gives Hamas a Reason to Stall on Ceasefire Deal
(Jerusalem Post) Herb Keinon - There is a Gaza ceasefire deal on the table, but Hamas delays. It dithers over clauses, sends out positive signals only to later walk them back. It's about a deal that could relieve the unbearable conditions of the very people Hamas claims to represent. Yet, Hamas haggles. It stalls. And the longer it delays, the more the spotlight shifts - toward Israel. The world places nearly all the blame and responsibility on Israel, as though Hamas has nothing to do with the dire food shortages. And in so doing, the international community only prolongs the suffering. Each angry UN condemnation, each news report that shows scenes of devastation without critical context, each harsh statement from Western democracies gives Hamas oxygen. And Hamas calculates that by dragging this out longer - by letting the death toll tick higher - the world will eventually force Israel's hand. There's no mention at all about Hamas's responsibility for any of this. Nothing about Hamas's role in the death of Palestinians seeking aid, because it wants to thwart any aid delivery mechanism not under its control. Today, with negotiations at another critical juncture, history repeats itself: as soon as diplomatic progress seems possible, a wave of external pressure targets Israel, Hamas publicly celebrates, and the incentive for it to compromise disappears. International actors, whether intentionally or not, are providing Hamas both political cover and motivation to prolong the conflict. Brett McGurk, the Biden administration's former National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and one of its top hostage deal negotiators, told the Aspen Security Forum on July 16 that a Gaza deal was nearly reached in May 2024. "On May 7, there was a deal on the table that gave Hamas 85% of everything it wanted that could have stopped the war the next day, but Hamas did not answer" until six weeks later, when it "fundamentally changed the whole thing." On August 16, another deal was offered, this time one that "had about 95% of what Hamas wanted, and again they did not say yes, they did not answer. This war could have stopped at multiple times if Hamas stopped the war and released hostages." The claim that Israel - not Hamas - is the main obstacle to a deal contradicts what key figures directly involved in the negotiations are saying. They are senior officials speaking publicly and on the record. In January, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked by the New York Times whether Netanyahu blocked a ceasefire last July that could have led to the hostages' release. His reply: "No, that's not accurate. What we've seen time and again is Hamas not concluding a deal that it should have concluded."