It is not easy to find the tomb of Menahem Begin among the 150,000 graves in the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives, in Jerusalem, founded 3,000 years ago. The Israeli Prime Minister (1977-1983) did not want to be buried on Mount Herzl and preferred this place, with a privileged view of the Esplanade of the Mosques, which for Jews is where the Second Temple was built. The former Likud leader hears the muezzin’s voice every day from the minaret of the Ras al-Mud mosque, located just a few meters away.
Begin went down in history for signing peace for the first time with an Arab country, Egypt, together with its president, Anwar el Sadat. The treaty was signed before the eyes of US President Jimmy Carter, and earned Begin and Sadat the Nobel Peace Prize, who in 1981 would be assassinated by Islamist Egyptian soldiers, accused of being a traitor for recognizing the State of Israel.
Thanks to those Camp David agreements, Gaza can receive humanitarian aid, which until now only entered through the Rafah crossing, bordering Egypt. Since the weekend, supplies have also provisionally arrived through the Kerem Shalom crossing, at the border between Gaza, Egypt and Israel.
However, humanitarian aid, restricted by Israel to 200 trucks a day, is not enough for the 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza – 80% displaced – and all international initiatives seeking a new ceasefire use this theme. as an excuse. Presented by several Arab countries, the latest initiative in this regard had to be debated last night in the UN Security Council and the negotiations focused on avoiding the US veto.
Since humanitarian aid and ceasefire go hand in hand, everything indicates that progress is being made towards a new truce. After the army “mistakenly” killed three hostages, Beniamín Netanyahu, under pressure from the families – yesterday he met with them again – is softening his position. Not the prime minister but President Isaac Herzog did say it: “Israel is prepared for another humanitarian pause and additional humanitarian aid to make the release of hostages possible.” If Netanyahu orders the fighting to stop again it will only be so that the largest number of hostages are released.
In a statement, Hamas again yesterday “categorically reject” a negotiation with Israel as long as there is no truce, but the Islamist group also said it was open “to any initiative that contributes to ending the aggression against our people and opening the crossings to bring aid.” .
The good relations between Israel and Egypt, fostered by the Camp David agreements, also allow the Egyptian intelligence services to play a relevant role in mediation with Hamas, together with the government of Qatar.
Another sign that something is moving is that, after visiting Israel, the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, was in Doha yesterday and praised “Egypt’s efforts together with Qatar”, which led to the release of 105 hostages in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinian prisoners during the seven-day truce in November. It is not known exactly how many people are still being held but it is estimated to be between 118 and 138.
Austin met with the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohamed bin Abderraman al Thani, who had met in Warsaw on Monday with the directors of Mossad, David Barnea, and the CIA, Bill Burns. A new truce is not imminent, but the fact that he is talking about it again at a high level, and that Netanyahu and Herzog are toning down the tone, bodes well. In any case, the last demand that Hamas raised in November, exchanging the hostages for all the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, some 8,000, seems unaffordable by Israel, although the relatives of the kidnapped defend it in order to see their loved ones. back home.
After a hypothetical ceasefire, the war and bombings would continue, although Hamas and the international community would try to take advantage of it to make it definitive. As of yesterday, Israel had killed 19,667 Palestinians in Gaza, of whom 8,000 were children. There are already 52,586 wounded, most of whom are not being treated in hospitals, so a new truce would give them more opportunities to receive assistance to recover or survive.
