2023-11-09 19:47:47
More than a month after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, the Jewish state agreed to observe limited humanitarian pauses, but refuses a ceasefire, despite calls from the international community.
Humanitarian pauses, but no lasting ceasefire immediately. Israel “will start taking four-hour breaks every day in certain areas of the northern Gaza Strip, which will be announced three hours in advance”, said a White House spokesperson on Thursday, November 9. According to him, these breaks should begin on Thursday.
But what about a more lasting ceasefire? Demanded by a large part of the international community, an interruption of the fighting is still rejected by Israel, which conditions it on the release of the hostages held by Hamas. US President Joe Biden ruled on Thursday that there was no “no possibility” ceasefire in Gaza.
A stop to the fighting demanded by a large part of the international community
After a month of war, the humanitarian situation in Gaza is particularly worrying. “Faced with the massacre, faced with the scale of the needs”Doctors Without Borders (MSF) once again pleaded on Wednesday for the establishment of a ceasefire.
By a very large majority, the UN General Assembly declared itselfat the end of October, in favor of the cessation of military operations in Gaza through the establishment of“an immediate humanitarian truce”. This non-binding resolution, which “requests an immediate, lasting and sustained truce (…), leading to the cessation of hostilities”received 120 votes for, 14 against, and 45 abstentions.
The main leaders of UN agencies, including the leaders of the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, called in a TribuneSunday November 5, the immediate end of the fighting. “Enough is enough. This has to stop now“, demand the signatories.
For his part, Emmanuel Macron initially called for a truce “to be able to protect populations on the ground”, during his tour of the Middle East at the end of October. During the “humanitarian conference” organized in Paris on Thursday, intended to act in favor of the civilian population of Gaza, the French president for the first time called “to work towards a ceasefire”.
For Israel, a general ceasefire would hinder the “war effort”
Asked by the American television channel ABC Tuesday, Benyamin Netanyahu considers that a ceasefire between the two parties would be “a surrender, a victory for Hamas”. The Prime Minister fears that such a measure would be completely ineffective and counterproductive, that it would hinder “the war effort” Israeli in the Gaza Strip and its “efforts to get our hostages out”. “The only thing that works with these Hamas criminals is the pressure we put on them”he explains.
Since the start of the conflict, Washington has supported its ally and refused to call for a ceasefire. On Thursday, Joe Biden estimated that there was no “no possibility” ceasefire in Gaza. On November 4, during a trip to Jordan, the American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, estimated that a ceasefire would allow Hamas to “regroup and repeat the attack of October 7”which left more than 1,400 dead in southern Israel.
However, the American position has undergone a slight shift since the start of the war. During a press briefing organized in Washington on Tuesday, the spokesperson for the American Department of State, Vedant Patel recalled that a “humanitarian break” temporary was necessary to allow “new releases of hostages”. On Thursday, Israel finally agreed to four-hour daily humanitarian breaks.
Negotiations underway in Qatar for a truce and the release of hostages
Behind the scenes, several parties are working to try to obtain a truce from the Israeli army in exchange for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip. According to AFP, which cites an anonymous source with knowledge of these discussions, the director of the CIA, Bill Burns, and the head of the Mossad, David Barnea, went to Doha (Qatar) to “trilateral negotiations with the Qataris to settle the details of a possible humanitarian truce which would see the release of the hostages and more aid entering Gaza”. According to this source, “talks have progressed well towards an agreement”.
Earlier in the day, a source close to Hamas in Gaza confided that negotiations led by Qatar were underway for the release of twelve hostages, including six Americans, in exchange for a three-day humanitarian truce. According to an estimate relayed by The Times of Israel, 180 hostages are currently held by Hamas, 40 by Palestinian Islamic Jihad and around twenty by several local organizations.
Visiting the West Bank on Wednesday, the Israeli Prime Minister, however, rejected, during a meeting with settlers, any idea of stopping the fighting with Hamas.“I would like to dismiss all kinds of vain rumors that reach us from all sides, and clearly repeat one thing: there will be no ceasefire without the release of our hostages. Everything else is futile.”
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