Time for a Gaza truce deal, says US

Jerusalem, Undefined – AFP

The United States said Tuesday it was time to “finalise” a deal between Israel and Hamas to end the former’s war on Gaza, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to bow to pressure.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller spoke a day after Netanyahu doubled down despite domestic and international pressure following the recovery by Israel’s military of six bodies from the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

“There are dozens of hostages still remaining in Gaza, still waiting for a deal that will bring them home. It is time to finalise that deal,” Miller said.

“The people of Israel cannot afford to wait any longer. The Palestinian people, who are also suffering the terrible effects of this war, cannot afford to wait any longer. The world cannot afford to wait any longer.”

Miller said Washington would work “over the coming days” with fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar “to push for a final agreement”.

John Kirby, the US National Security Council spokesman, echoed this sentiment, saying, “we believe we can close this” truce deal.

Despite increasing grief and fury among Israelis, who have taken to the streets to pressure the government, Netanyahu said he would “not give in to pressure” during indirect negotiations with Hamas.

– Philadelphi Corridor –

UN human rights chief Volker Turk called for an “independent, impartial and transparent investigation” into reports the six people were summarily executed.

Netanyahu, whose ruling coalition relies on the support of far-right ministers who oppose a truce, said Hamas’s refusal to make concessions was the real obstacle.

Netanyahu said Israel must control Gaza’s border with Egypt to stop Hamas from rearming.

Egypt on Tuesday rejected accusations its Gaza border was being used to arm Hamas, and accused Netanyahu of seeking to “distract Israeli public opinion and obstruct reaching a cease-fire deal”.

“We are opposed to the long-term presence of IDF troops in Gaza,” Miller said, referring to Israel’s military.

Netanyahu on Monday said “the achievement of the war’s objectives” requires control of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border.

– ‘Occupy indefinitely’ –

Hamas has long demanded a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and Egyptian officials have objected to an Israeli military presence on the border.

Netanyahu “wants to occupy Gaza on some level indefinitely” and was now “just saying it more openly”, analyst Mairav Zonszein told AFP.

Israel occupied the Gaza Strip in 1967 and maintained troops and settlers there until 2005, when it withdrew but imposed a crippling blockade and, since the start of the current war, a total siege.

Increasing the pressure on Israel, Britain on Monday said it would suspend some arms exports, citing a “clear risk” they could be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law.

Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said Monday the Israelis remaining in Gaza would return “inside coffins” if Israel maintains its military pressure on the territory.

With Gaza in ruins and the majority of its 2.4 million residents forced to flee, often taking refuge in cramped and unsanitary conditions, disease has spread.

After the first confirmed polio case in 25 years, a vaccination drive began Sunday amid localised “humanitarian pauses” in the fighting.

More than 161,000 children have now received a first vaccine dose in central Gaza, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. It aims to fully vaccinate more than 640,000 children altogether.