Ally tensions as US says Israel cannot occupy Gaza
Farrah Tomazin
WASHINGTON: The US has forcefully pushed back against suggestions that Israel may seek to reoccupy the Gaza Strip once the war with Hamas is over, in the latest sign of the deepening tensions between the two allies over how the conflict is being handled.
After Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu declared his country would need to oversee ‘‘overall security’’ in Gaza for an ‘‘indefinite period’’ when the war ended to prevent future attacks, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday rejected the idea and gave his clearest vision yet of how America wanted to ensure the future safety and security of the territory.
Speaking after a G7 meeting of foreign ministers in Tokyo, Blinken said it was clear that ‘‘Gaza cannot continue to be run by Hamas’’ but that ‘‘it’s also clear that Israel cannot occupy Gaza’’.
‘‘The United States believes key elements should include no forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza – not now, not after the war,’’ he said. ‘‘No use of Gaza as a platform for terrorism or other violent attacks. No reoccupation of Gaza after the conflict ends. No attempt to blockade or besiege Gaza. No reduction in the territory of Gaza.’’
Blinken’s comments came after Netanyahu’s declaration earlier this week that Israel could assume responsibility for Gaza’s security ‘‘for an indefinite period’’. This set off alarm bells for the Biden administration, which is seeking a two-state solution and has long been nervous about Israel suggesting an openended occupation of the territory.
The solution, Blinken said, should ‘‘include the Palestinian people’s voices and aspirations at the centre of post-crisis governance in Gaza’’. ‘‘It must include Palestinian-led governance and Gaza unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority,’’ he said.
But implementing such a postconflict vision would be difficult considering factors such as the unpopularity of West Bank-ruling Palestinian Authority’s leader Mahmoud Abbas and the opposition within the Netanyahu government to establishing a Palestinian state.
Blinken’s comments were followed last night by news that negotiations were under way for a threeday humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for the release of about a dozen hostages held by Hamas. That was according to two officials from Egypt, one from the United Nations and a Western diplomat, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic efforts.
The deal would enable more aid, including limited amounts of fuel, to enter the besieged territory to alleviate worsening conditions for the 2.3 million Palestinians trapped there. It was being brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the US, according to the officials and the diplomat.
One of the Egyptian officials said details of the deal were discussed this week in Cairo with the visiting CIA chief and an Israeli delegation. The official said mediators were finalising a draft deal.
A senior US official said the Biden administration had not put forward any specific time frame for a pause in Israel’s military operations but had suggested that Israel consider tying the length of a pause to the release of some hostages.
Under the deal, Hamas would release a dozen civilian hostages, most of them foreign passport holders, and provide a complete list of hostages to mediators, according to the officials. The International Committee of the Red Cross would be allowed to visit the hostages.
The diplomat said the talks were complex because of the involvement of different parties in the region and in Western capitals.
United Nations officials and G7 world powers also stepped up appeals for a humanitarian pause in the war to help alleviate the suffering of civilians in Gaza, where whole neighbourhoods have been razed by Israeli bombardment.
‘‘It is … important to make Israel understand that it is against [its] interests to see every day the terrible image of the dramatic humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people,’’ UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, adding there was ‘‘something clearly wrong’’ with the Israeli operations.
The war, now in its second month, was triggered by the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel which killed about 1400 people, mostly civilians. Hamas also took more than 200 hostages.
The number of Palestinians killed by Israel’s reaction to the attack passed 10,500 yesterday, including more than 4300 children, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said. In the occupied West Bank, more than 160 Palestinians have been killed in the violence and Israeli raids.
Meanwhile, street battles raged in Gaza City yesterday with Hamas fighters using tunnels to ambush Israeli forces, who had advanced close to the centre of the enclave’s main urban area.
With AP, Reuters