what to remember from Friday March 22

“If necessary”, Israel will carry out a ground offensive in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, without the support of the United States, a historic ally of the Jewish state.

Israel plans a ground offensive in Rafah even without support from Washington, Benjamin Netanyahu told Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, March 22, while a draft American resolution at the UN on a ceasefire “immediate” was blocked by Russia and China. Franceinfo takes stock of the main information relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

US resolution for “immediate” ceasefire fails at UN

At the UN, a draft resolution to the Security Council, presented by the United States, on an “immediate ceasefire”, was not adopted due to Russian and Chinese vetoes. Hamas welcomed these vetoes, denouncing the “misleading wording” American text.

The text, which received 11 votes in favor, three votes against (Russia, China and Algeria) and one abstention (Guyana), does not use the words “call” Or “request” and makes a link between this truce and the Doha negotiations for the release of the hostages. The Russian ambassador to the UN denounced a text “hypocritical” which did not directly call for silencing the guns.

The United States has already vetoed several resolutions calling for a ceasefire, believing that this would have benefited Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Israel and the European Union.

Emmanuel Macron wants to seek “an agreement” at the UN

Taking note of the rejection of the American text, the President of the Republic confirmed that France prepared another resolution in favor of a ceasefire. “We will resume on the basis of the French draft resolution (…) and work with our American, European and Arab partners in this sense to find an agreement”he declared after a European summit in Brussels.

Israel ready to carry out Rafah offensive without US support

Arriving in Tel Aviv from Cairo in the morning, American Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Benjamin Netanyahu before participating in a meeting of the Israeli war cabinet. “I said that we did not have the possibility of defeating Hamas without entering Rafah and eliminating the remaining battalions there. I told him that I hoped to do it with the support of the United States, but s ‘we have to, we’ll do it alone’the Israeli Prime Minister said in a statement after his meeting with the American official.

Shortly after, the latter affirmed that such an operation “risks killing more civilians (…), further isolating Israel globally and endangering its long-term security”.

Gaza truce talks continue

In the Gaza Strip, there is no respite from the clashes, particularly in and around the al-Chifa hospital in the northern Gaza City, where the Israeli army claimed on Friday to have killed more than 150 Palestinian fighters and arrested hundreds of suspects since the start of the week.

Meanwhile, talks on a truce continued Friday in Doha, where Israeli intelligence chief David Barnea was scheduled to meet with CIA Director William Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdelrahmane Al-Thani, and the head of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamel. “The gap is narrowing” in these negotiations for a truce associated with the release of hostages”Antony Blinken said Thursday, speaking of an agreement “always possible”.

While waiting for this possible ground offensive, new Israeli air strikes took place during the night from Thursday to Friday on Rafah.

The Jewish state announces the seizure of 800 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank

The Israeli government announced the seizure of 800 hectares of land in the Jordan Valley, Occupied West Bank. According to the Israeli anti-settlement organization Peace Now, this is the largest land seizure in Palestinian territory since the Oslo Accords in 1993. “You know our point of view on the expansion of colonies (…) we have a problem with that”said the American official reacting to the Israeli announcement.