(Rafah) The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas considers “positive” the new Israeli road map with a view to a ceasefire and the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip unveiled by American President Joe Biden and welcomed on Saturday as a “ray of hope” after months of war.
What there is to know
- Around a million Palestinians remain in Rafah;
- The Israeli army confirmed the presence of its forces in the center of the city;
- On Wednesday, the Israeli army took control of an area of approximately 14 km from east to west, bordering the Egyptian border, in Rafah, called the “Philadelphia corridor”;
- Joe Biden said Friday that Israel has proposed a new agreement that includes the withdrawal of all its forces from Palestinian territory for six weeks.
In a speech from the White House, Mr. Biden called on the Islamist movement to accept this plan, submitted according to him to Hamas via the Qatari mediator.
PHOTO EVAN VUCCI, ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Joe Biden
“We cannot pass up” this opportunity for an agreement in Gaza, launched Joe Biden in the eighth month of a devastating war in the besieged Palestinian territory and threatened with famine according to the UN. “It is time for this war to end,” he said.
The first phase, Mr. Biden said, would be a complete ceasefire, with a withdrawal of Israeli troops from “inhabited areas of Gaza” for a period of six weeks.
ILLUSTRATION SIMON MALFATTO, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A map of the Gaza Strip with approximate areas where ground operations by the Israeli military or a “Palestinian militia” have been reported as of May 30, 2024
The end of the fighting, according to him, would be accompanied by the release of certain Israeli hostages kidnapped during the bloody Hamas attack on October 7 against Israel, in particular women and the sick, and the release of detained Palestinian prisoners. by Israel.
This temporary ceasefire could become “permanent” if Hamas “respects its commitments,” added the American president. The next phase of the plan would include the release of all hostages still held.
“Hamas views positively what was included today in US President Joe Biden’s speech regarding a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, reconstruction and the exchange of prisoners,” Hamas said. indicated the Palestinian Islamist movement in a press release.
Without referring to Mr. Biden’s speech, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that the government was “united in its desire to bring back” the hostages “as quickly as possible” and that the prime minister had “authorized the negotiating team to present a plan to achieve this objective.
But he, at the same time, stressed that “the war would not stop” until all its goals (are) achieved”, citing “the return” of all the hostages and “the elimination of military capabilities and government of Hamas. The road map proposed by Israel makes it possible to “maintain these principles,” he continues.
” Glimmer of hope ”
These developments have sparked a chorus of international reactions, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calling on Israel and Hamas to “seize the moment” in order to achieve a “lasting peace in the Middle East”.
This latest proposal is “realistic” and “offers a real opportunity to move towards an end to the war and the suffering of civilians in Gaza”, commented the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
The proposal “offers a glimmer of hope and possibly a way out of the conflict,” commented German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken promoted on Friday the new road map on Gaza unveiled by Joe Biden with a view to a ceasefire during calls with his counterparts from Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
“We cannot let this opportunity slip away,” commented the Hostage Families Forum in Israel, calling on civil society to mobilize to push political leaders to accept and implement the proposal.
“Not negotiable”
The political leader of Hamas, Ismaïl Haniyeh, indicated on Friday that his movement had informed the mediators that its “demands”, especially a permanent ceasefire and a total withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza Strip, were “not not negotiable.
Joe Biden’s announcement came as Israeli forces advanced to the center of Rafah, a city in the south of the Gaza Strip that has become the epicenter of the conflict, and took control of the “Philadelphia Corridor”, a strategic buffer zone on the border between this Palestinian territory and Egypt.
Israel has vowed to “destroy” Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007 and considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, after the unprecedented attack carried out on October 7 by infiltrated commandos of the Islamist movement. from Gaza in the south of Israeli territory.
More than 1,189 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the attack, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures. And of the 252 people taken as hostages, 121 are still held in Gaza, of whom 37 are dead, according to the Israeli army.
In response, the army besieged the Gaza Strip and launched a bombing campaign followed by a ground offensive. More than 36,280 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed, according to data from the Health Ministry of the Hamas-led Gaza government.
“Apocalyptic”
Israeli military operations have also destroyed many neighborhoods, displaced the majority of Gaza’s approximately 2.4 million residents and caused a major humanitarian catastrophe.
PHOTO EYAD BABA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Palestinians move to Rafah on May 31.
On Friday, witnesses reported Israeli strikes against Rafah, the scene on Sunday of an Israeli strike that killed 45 people in a local displaced persons camp.
On the humanitarian level, Cairo and Israel are blaming each other for blocking the delivery of aid through the Rafah border post with Egypt, which has been closed since the Israeli army took control of it on the Palestinian side on May 7.
The Rafah crossing is crucial for the entry of this aid. And with the start of the offensive in Rafah, life has become “apocalyptic” in certain areas of the Gaza Strip, the UN has been alarmed.