As a marathon cabinet meeting on Tuesday night moved toward a vote in which Israel would agree to a prisoner exchange and ceasefire with Hamas, hard-line politicians expressed fears it could mean the end of the military operation in Gaza.
“The deal will endanger the lives of our soldiers and jeopardize the continuation of the war to destroy Hamas,” MP Zvi Sukkot of the ultranationalist Alliance of Religious Zionism said in a post on X, previously on Twitter.
The White House was reportedly concerned that a four-day ceasefire could increase resistance to Israeli scorched earth operations in the Gaza Strip.
The pause in fighting “will give journalists greater access to the Gaza Strip and the opportunity to further highlight the destruction there and focus public opinion on Israel.” policy This was reported with reference to senior Biden administration officials.
Diplomatic pressure for a more permanent ceasefire is growing in the region and beyond.
The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan said the agreement should lead to an end to this war and the resumption of negotiations on a two-state solution. Turkey and Russia issued statements calling for a “lasting” and “lasting” peace.
In the USA the quota is growing Members of Congress Supporters of a full ceasefire welcomed the agreement and expressed hope for a more comprehensive agreement. “Let’s keep fighting until we put an end to the violence and bombings and get all the hostages back,” said New York Democrat Jamaal Bowman.
A former senior British Foreign Office official suggests the ceasefire opens up new opportunities.
“Once you walk through the door, it opens up the possibility of conversations that were so difficult because of the brutality of the circumstances that led to them,” he said, referring to the Oct. 7 massacre.
“But now that it’s been six weeks, there’s a little opportunity for people to say, ‘Well, what’s next?’
Israeli leaders could use the opportunity to reflect on the goal of destroying Hamas, which may not be feasible, the source added.
“I haven’t spoken to anyone who believes in a successful military outcome,” he said. “Trying to kill all Hamas members comes at a huge cost – it is almost impossible. The question then becomes whether the next Hamas will emerge and what damage it will do to Israel. It just doesn’t seem practical to me.”
The former official fears the war will only end with “such enormous loss of life and destruction that everyone will say enough is enough.” [and] His policies destroyed Israel in the region for a generation and achieved nothing in terms of his goals.”
The terms of the ceasefire provide for an extension. Israel announced it would add an extra day for every 10 hostages released by Hamas. The militant group is believed to be holding more than 230 prisoners.
The agreement also covers Israel’s northern front and provides assistance to affected and displaced communities in the Galilee region caught in crossfire with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
However, the Israeli government insists that the ceasefire is just a pause and that once it ends, the campaign to destroy Hamas in the Gaza Strip will continue “in full force.”
“At 12:01, we will be back to work,” said Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, referring to the day after the ceasefire.
“My assessment is that this time will be used to organize an invasion of the south,” General Amidror said in a telephone conversation with reporters.
The mission to clear Hamas from the northern Gaza Strip, believed to have been rendered uninhabitable by brutal bombing, is almost complete, the former general said, adding that the army’s approach in the south was “pretty much the same.”
“We are destroying Hamas in the north of Gaza, and if the government keeps its promises, we will destroy them in the south as well. It will take time, but we will do it,” he said. “Life for Gazans will undoubtedly be miserable, but they should ask Hamas why.”
The US government, still staunchly supporting the Israeli campaign, expressed rare concern at the prospect of similarly destructive action from the south, where refugees from the north have gathered in refugee camps devastated by the humanitarian crisis.
John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said Tuesday: “We do not support this [Israel] Continue operations in the south without a clearly articulated plan to protect the lives of hundreds of thousands of people whose population has now swelled in the south because the Israelis ordered them to leave the country.”
But the United States has not yet attempted to significantly curb Israel’s campaign in the Gaza Strip, said Nimrod Novik, a former Israeli negotiator and foreign policy adviser to the late Prime Minister Shimon Peres.
“If Joe Biden sticks to his belief that ending Hamas’s rule is a just cause and supports Israel in that effort, then it will not be international pressure that will determine the course of the war, but military considerations,” he said.
While relations with regional neighbors such as Egypt and Jordan are important to Israel, the former official said, the strength of public sentiment after the Oct. 7 massacre required that only one country have a say in the Gaza campaign.
“The international pressure associated with the course of the war has two components,” Novick said. “On one side is everyone else, and on the other is the United States.”
Dr. H.A. Hellyer, a senior fellow in international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute and a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the US refusal to impose “red lines” against Israel despite catastrophic Palestinian civilian casualties shows that there is no such thing. It happens. There’s no end in sight.
The analyst suggests that war may take the form of cycles of violence with breaks in between.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it was some kind of cycle of several days.” [pause]and then it bombs, then it stops, and then it bombs.”
Dr Hellyer expects the humanitarian crisis to worsen in the south, where 1.7 million of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents are currently seeking protection, according to the Red Cross. He believes that Israel is responsible for opening the land borders with the Gaza Strip and supporting refugees.
“Israel must open its borders and accept people to provide them with asylum,” he said. “Under international law, they are the occupying power in Gaza and therefore have a responsibility to protect civilians.”
Source: I News
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