There are many in Israel who don’t believe Benjamin Netanyahu wants a new hostage deal, and they’re not just the families of those still being held in Gaza.
Such is the scepticism with which Israel’s prime minister is now regarded, a growing number of Israelis are starting to think their embattled leader wants to string out the fighting as long as possible as a means to remain in office.
Having spent much of Monday blaming Hamas for collapsing ceasefire talks, the group’s dramatic acceptance of a ceasefire proposal last night certainly threw the Israeli government.
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IDF ‘take control’ of crossing in Gaza
War latest: 20 militants killed as Israel takes partial control of crossing
Whether or not Hamas has agreed to the same Israeli proposal that Antony Blinken described as “generous” only a few days ago however, is unclear.
The Israeli government’s initial response, late last night, was to claim it was a different proposal and something Israel had not agreed to.
There are parties to these negotiations who will know if that is true or not: The CIA Director Bill Burns has spent much time in the Middle East over recent months and has been criss-crossing between Cairo, Doha and Tel Aviv over the past few days.
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He will be fully across each word of any proposal and how the language has shifted; he will know who is acting in good faith, and if either side isn’t.
The fact the Israeli war cabinet has agreed to send a negotiating team to Cairo today, something they didn’t do last week, shows they are taking this seriously, but the parallel move to send IDF troops into Rafah complicates matters.
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Image: Houses damaged in an Israeli strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Pic: Reuters
There are two opposing schools of thought here; one says that Netanyahu’s decision to keep fighting and attack Rafah shows he doesn’t want to halt the war, knowing that a ceasefire could very likely spell the end of his government if its right-wing allies resign in protest.
The other view is that Netanyahu has upped the military pressure on Hamas to achieve a hostage deal, just at the moment negotiations are reaching a decisive point.
To suggest Netanyahu is deliberately blocking a new deal “is like Hitler indicting Churchill” a source close to the prime minister texted me on Monday night.
Image: An Israeli airstrike on buildings near the separating wall between Egypt and Rafah. Pic: AP
When I asked if Hamas was “playing the PM”, I got laughter emojis back.
But an invasion of Rafah would be a final roll of the dice.
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Sure, it remains the final unexplored bastion of Hamas in Gaza, but is it really the location of [Hamas leaders] Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and the remaining hostages and would a full-scale operation in Rafah finally achieve Israel’s outstanding objectives?
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It’s a gamble, and if it doesn’t succeed, Netanyahu will be left with few places to turn.
Image: Palestinians flee Rafah after the Israeli army ordered them to evacuate. Pic: AP
This might be the best deal Netanyahu is going to get then, and he is now under pressure to decide.
If the US, Qatar, Egypt and Hamas all agree it’s a good deal, how can Bibi reject it without being seen as the one preventing the hostages from returning home?
Source : Sky News
