by Jeremy Scahill
Part 4 - Blinken’s Loss of Credibility
In early August, the White House insisted that a ceasefire was within reach and had put forward what it called a “final bridging proposal” to resolve outstanding issues. “We are closer than we’ve ever been,” Biden said on August 16. Four days later, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Tel Aviv meeting with Netanyahu. “He supports it,” Blinken told reporters after their meeting. “It’s now incumbent on Hamas to do the same.” Within hours of Blinken departing Israel, Netanyahu’s people were leaking stories contesting those assertions and saying the Israeli prime minister had in fact convinced Blinken to accept Israel’s continued occupation of parts of Gaza. The U.S. denied that happened.
“Blinken has damaged the whole process because he lost all his credibility as a serious mediator,” said Naim. “We see today the worst example of a secretary of state of a superpower. Very weak, very weak. He’s a big failure.”
Naim said that the so-called bridging proposals largely advocated for Hamas to accept some aspects of the new demands Netanyahu inserted after Hamas agreed to the Biden and UN framework.
“Blinken has damaged the whole process because he lost all his credibility as a serious mediator,” said Naim. “We see today the worst example of a secretary of state of a superpower. Very weak, very weak. He’s a big failure.”
Naim said that the so-called bridging proposals largely advocated for Hamas to accept some aspects of the new demands Netanyahu inserted after Hamas agreed to the Biden and UN framework.
“We are ready to sit for negotiations if we are discussing an executive plan to implement what we have agreed upon on July 2,” said Naim. “We are not ready to negotiate a new proposal because [Netanyahu] added new conditions which has nothing to do with the old.”
The White House insists it is making progress. “Senior level talks in Cairo over recent days have been constructive and were conducted in a spirit on all sides to reach a final and implementable agreement,” said a State Department official in a statement to Drop Site News. “The process continues through working groups to further address remaining issues and details. We underscore the urgency of an agreement for all sides.”
Hamas maintains it has not directly participated in any negotiations or “working groups,” only receiving updates from Egyptian and Qatari mediators and then offering their responses. “We weren’t part of the negotiations,” Naim said. “The last round of negotiations, it was only between the mediators, the Americans and [Israel].”
The White House insists it is making progress. “Senior level talks in Cairo over recent days have been constructive and were conducted in a spirit on all sides to reach a final and implementable agreement,” said a State Department official in a statement to Drop Site News. “The process continues through working groups to further address remaining issues and details. We underscore the urgency of an agreement for all sides.”
Hamas maintains it has not directly participated in any negotiations or “working groups,” only receiving updates from Egyptian and Qatari mediators and then offering their responses. “We weren’t part of the negotiations,” Naim said. “The last round of negotiations, it was only between the mediators, the Americans and [Israel].”
He added that mediators have told Hamas that the Israeli delegations do not appear empowered by Netanyahu to make any decisions and that often, when progress appears possible, Netanyahu vetoes the suggestions of his own delegation. “They are not authorized to negotiate seriously [on] any point,” Naim said. “It is only negotiations between the mediators and the Israelis. Or to be more accurate, it is negotiations between the mediators, the Americans and Netanyahu. And in this case, the mediator is the Israeli delegation.”
On Thursday, the Israeli security cabinet voted to support Netanyahu’s insistence that its forces remain entrenched along the Philadelphi corridor between Gaza and Egypt. According to media reports on the meeting, Netanyahu’s own defense minister Yoav Gallant objected. “The significance of this is that Hamas won’t agree to it, so there won’t be an agreement and there won’t be any hostages released,” Gallant reportedly said. “You’re running the negotiations on your own,” he added, “we hear everything after the fact.” Netanyahu’s proposal was approved with only Gallant voting against it.
On Thursday, the Israeli security cabinet voted to support Netanyahu’s insistence that its forces remain entrenched along the Philadelphi corridor between Gaza and Egypt. According to media reports on the meeting, Netanyahu’s own defense minister Yoav Gallant objected. “The significance of this is that Hamas won’t agree to it, so there won’t be an agreement and there won’t be any hostages released,” Gallant reportedly said. “You’re running the negotiations on your own,” he added, “we hear everything after the fact.” Netanyahu’s proposal was approved with only Gallant voting against it.
Naim said that the optimism expressed recently by U.S. officials for a deal that ends the war is an attempt to obfuscate an increasingly dire reality, the stakes of which have been devastatingly punctuated by Israel’s violent invasion of parts of the West Bank, which began Wednesday.
“What's happening in Gaza and what's happening in the West Bank is a clear sign, a clear indication that this conflict needs a political solution. And Palestinians have all the rights to achieve their national goals of dignity, freedom and independence, self sovereignty,” Naim said. “Leaving these fascist leaders in Israel, they will destabilize not only the situation here, but the situation in the whole region. Because day after day, they are converting this political conflict into a religious conflict.”
“What's happening in Gaza and what's happening in the West Bank is a clear sign, a clear indication that this conflict needs a political solution. And Palestinians have all the rights to achieve their national goals of dignity, freedom and independence, self sovereignty,” Naim said. “Leaving these fascist leaders in Israel, they will destabilize not only the situation here, but the situation in the whole region. Because day after day, they are converting this political conflict into a religious conflict.”
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