The White House pressed Tuesday to finalize a ceasefire agreement that would halt fighting in Gaza, even as Israel carried out a limited military operation to take control of a key border crossing into Rafah.
The US, together with Egypt and Qatar, worked for weeks on a proposed truce between Israel and Hamas that would guarantee the release of Israeli hostages. And although Hamas said on Monday it had accepted an offer of a temporary ceasefire, Israel said the group’s terms fell short of its main demands.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is betting big that launching military operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah will increase pressure on Hamas.
“We understand that time for the lives of the hostages is running out,” said Israel Ziv, former commander of the Gaza Division and former head of the Israel Operations Directorate, in a call with reporters on Tuesday morning.
“The first priority is to maximize the settlement option…that’s what maximum pressure is all about,” he continued.
White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday that the US was closely monitoring Israel’s actions in Rafah, although he indicated they did not rise to the level of a large-scale military operation. which American authorities had warned against. The operation, Kirby said, was aimed at stopping Hamas from sending weapons across the border to Rafah.
“The way they described this does not have a dimension, scale, duration and scope that can be equated to a large ground operation. But then again, it’s just beginning,” Kirby said. “The president was very clear yesterday about his consistent concerns about this. So let’s keep watching.”
“We do not support operations in Rafah that put the 1.5 million people who seek refuge there at greater risk,” he added.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Tuesday that Israeli forces were prepared to deepen their operation in Gaza if ceasefire negotiations failed, a sign of the precarious situation in the region.
CIA Director Bill Burns, who led U.S. efforts in the negotiations, reportedly arrived Tuesday in Cairo, along with delegations from Israel, Hamas, Egypt and Qatar. The US and Israel do not directly engage with Hamas, which is a US-designated terrorist group.
Kirby told reporters that the US was optimistic that the delegations could resolve remaining differences over the ceasefire agreement.
“Our understanding of the text is that they should be able to fill in those gaps, and hopefully very, very soon,” Kirby said.
“I don’t really want to talk about specific parameters,” Kirby added. “In this very delicate phase, in a very delicate moment in which we are in with the negotiations, I think it is better to let the negotiators resolve the existing gaps.”
The White House has been trying for months to secure a ceasefire agreement in Gaza that would free hostages taken by Hamas during the attack on Israel last October, while also allowing more humanitarian aid to reach Gaza, where more than 34,000 Palestinians were killed. and tens of thousands of people are without adequate food, water and medicine.
President Biden has grown frustrated with Netanyahu in recent months, even suggesting that the US might reevaluate its support for Israel if it did not do more to protect civilians and aid workers in Gaza.
While the Biden administrationsupposedly pauseda shipment of ammunition to Israel, the reason for doing so remains unclear. A supplemental national security package that Biden signed into law last month provides nearly $27 billion in military assistance related to Israeli and U.S. security needs.
Biden has sought to balance his pledge to support Israel with public warnings that Netanyahu needs to change his approach. On Tuesday, he sought to emphasize that he would not abandon Israel, even amid friction between the two.
“My commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is unyielding, even when we disagree,” Biden said in a speech condemning anti-Semitism at the US Capitol.
Israel estimates there are 133 Israeli hostages in Gaza, but it is unclear how many remain alive or under Hamas control. Although Israel called for the evacuation of 40 of the most vulnerable hostages – children, women, the elderly and the injured – in the first phase of the deal, Jerusalem said Hamas negotiators have indicated they are unlikely to be able to reach that number.
The main difference in demands between Israel and Hamas appears to center on the length of the pause in fighting – Hamas demands a ceasefire that leads to the end of the war; Israel’s war aims are to eliminate Hamas’ ability to govern Gaza.
Other points of contention are Hamas’ demands to name the Palestinian prisoners it wants to release from Israeli prisons, while Israel wants to control the list; and the number of days until a ceasefire related to the number of people released by each side.
Shortly after Hamas’ announcement to accept a ceasefire agreement, the Israeli War Cabinet voted unanimously on Monday night to proceed with what it describes as a limited operation in Rafah, keeping negotiations for the release of hostages and the ceasefire.
The Israeli military said it carried out airstrikes in eastern Rafah and seized the border crossing with Egypt on Monday night, after sending warnings via text messages, leaflets and phone calls to around 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate. the area of expected conflict.
The operation was launched despite warnings from Biden to Netanyahu in a phone call Monday morning Eastern time. Biden has long warned Netanyahu against launching an operation in Rafah in the absence of a credible plan to protect civilians, with more than 1 million displaced Palestinians sheltering in the city.
The Rafah crossing with Egypt is a main artery for humanitarian aid arriving in Gaza and an outlet for Gazans who may leave. Hostages released by Hamas during a week-long ceasefire in November were transferred through the Rafah crossing.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, amplifying the alarm of aid groups, called on Israel to de-escalate around Rafah, calling a large-scale attack on the southern city “a human catastrophe.”
“Rafah is the epicenter of humanitarian operations in Gaza. Attacking Rafah will further undermine our efforts to support people in humanitarian distress as famine looms,” Guterres said.
“Even Israel’s best friends are clear: an attack on Rafah would be a strategic mistake, a political calamity and a humanitarian nightmare.”
Ziv, the retired Israeli general, described the Israeli government’s idea of seizing the Rafah crossing as sending a clear message to Hamas.
“The Rafah crossing is the main strategic crossing into the Gaza Strip and, of course, by maintaining it, we are maintaining Israel’s airway into Gaza,” he said.
“This should give Hamas a clear understanding that Israel holds the key.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
