As planned, Antony Blinken spoke at length with Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, May 1, in Jerusalem. And as expected, the American Secretary of State told the Israeli Prime Minister again “the clear position of the United States” on the issue of an assault on the town of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip. Many capitals, including Washington, fear carnage among the approximately 1.5 million civilians crowded there, the vast majority displaced. Follow our live stream.
The United States wants to obtain an Israel-Hamas agreement “now”. Upon arriving in Israel, Antony Blinken also discussed the ongoing negotiations on a new truce. “Even in these difficult times, we are determined to get a ceasefire that brings the hostages home and get it now. And the only reason it won’t happen is Hamas.”he declared in Tel Aviv, meeting Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Response still awaited from Hamas. The mediating countries (Egypt, Qatar, United States) are awaiting a response from the Palestinian Islamist movement to a proposal for a forty-day truce, associated with the release of hostages held in Gaza since the start of the war, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. held by Israel. A proposal that Antony Blinken described on Monday as“extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel”.
Firmness from the Israeli Prime Minister. Hamas calls for ceasefire “permanent” before any agreement on the release of the hostages, which Israel has always refused until now by claiming to want to carry out a ground offensive in Rafah. “The idea of stopping the war before having achieved all our objectives is out of the question. We will enter Rafah and eliminate the Hamas battalions there, with or without (a truce) agreement in order to achieve total victory “Benjamin Netanyahu repeated on Tuesday.
A land operation in Rafah would be “an unspeakable tragedy”, fears the UN. The Israeli Prime Minister continues to reiterate his intention to enter Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip. “For the hundreds of thousands of people who have fled to the far south of Gaza to escape disease, famine, mass graves and direct combat, a ground invasion would bring even more trauma and death.”said the head of UN humanitarian affairs, Martin Griffiths.