Why ceasefire talks are stuck
Published
by
Richard Kuper
JVL Introduction
An explainer by Alex Kane of Jewish Currents on why ceasefire talks over Gaza have gone nowhere.
In it, he elaborates on the three-step ceasefire proposal currently on the table, and how the different parties have reacted to it; why a ceasefire and exchange of hostages deal could be negotiated in November but is proving so difficult this time round; and how the Biden administration has shifted – and not – over this period.
RK
This article was originally published by Jewish Currents on Mon 24 Jun 2024. Read the original here.
Why ceasefire talks are stuck
A breakdown of the political dynamics that have prevented a ceasefire in Gaza.
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A change in Israeli perceptions – as reported by their media – does seem to be underway. Different parts of Israeli society may NOW see the earliest achievable ceasefire and exit from Gaza (on any terms?) as being very much in their own interests.
The start of it was probably the IDF’s direct challenge to the government line (telling Israelis Hamas couldn’t be forced out of Gaza). There’s also the running sore of protest groups (hostages families, parents of soldiers etc) blocking motorways, besieging ministers and getting beaten up while doing so.
For the first time I remember there’s now Israeli press coverage of the damage the war in Gaza war is doing to Israel. The “Times of Israel” had 2 articles today on the war’s impact on falling international investment; foreign universities backing away from joint projects; and Israel’s likely exclusion from a key relationship with the EU.
Perhaps as a result of all of this Netanyahu is said to be more receptive to members of the Palestinian Authority taking control in Gaza. Which for him is progress.
I’ve never been quite clear about what happened to end the week-long truce in November, but it seems to me it was nothing substantial and, as such, the truce could have been extended and, eventually, led to a permanent ceasefire. But BN and his fascist buddies (and Biden and Blinken et al) had other ideas – ie to kill and maim Gazans en masse and bomb them back into the stoneage.
I concluded many, many years ago that most of our political so-called leaders in the West (and elsewhere) are mega-sadists, and bombing and killing and maiming and destroying is the ultimate high for them, along with all the devastation and unbearable pain and suffering it causes. History is full of such people, and it’s no different today, and it’s just a mirage – an illusion – that we are living in more enlightened times, an illusion that these very same war-mongering psychopaths created.
And as the author points out regards Hamas (in a quote), they are hardly going to agree to their own destruction are they, and BN et al know it of course. And their giddy super-sadistic joke is ‘Well, if you don’t agree to your own destruction (along with tens of thousands of innocent people), we’ll destroy you (along with tens of thousands of innocent people).