Before EU leaders called in Brussels last night for an “immediate humanitarian pause” in Gaza, the United States stepped forward and, in a reversal of position, presented a resolution to the Security Council yesterday the UN to request an “immediate” cessation of hostilities in the strip. This ceasefire would be “linked to the release of the Israeli hostages” kidnapped by Hamas, according to the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on the Saudi channel Al-Hadath.
However, Washington’s resolution – widely negotiated with other members of the Council and which could be voted on today – does not make the release of the hostages a condition. The key paragraph states that “an immediate and sustained ceasefire is imperative to protect civilians on both sides, allow the delivery of essential humanitarian assistance, alleviate human suffering (…) and support diplomatic efforts to ensure the ceasefire in connection with the release of all the hostages”.
The head of American diplomacy believes that this resolution sends “a strong message”, despite the fact that Washington has so far vetoed all the ceasefire proposals that have been presented to the Security Council.
Blinken arrived yesterday, after visiting Saudi Arabia, as part of his sixth tour of the Middle East since the confrontation between Hamas and Israel began on October 7 last year.
In this interview, the Secretary of State insisted that the US maintains support for Israel and “its right to defend itself after the attack by Hamas”, but reiterated that “it is imperative” to protect Gazan civilians and to provide them with humanitarian assistance, an effort that Washington “has led,” he said.
At the same time, Blinken had reiterated in Riyadh that the White House is committed to the establishment of a Palestinian state. “The secretary emphasized the commitment of the United States to achieve a sustained peace through the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel,” said a statement from the State Department on Wednesday.
In Brussels, before the European leaders called for an “immediate humanitarian pause”, the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, stated that the resolution presented by the US to the UN is “a good example”, but he said that the EU, not Washington, should lead this issue.
For his part, the Irish Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, declared that “a ceasefire should have arrived a long time ago”, and recalled that most EU countries have requested it individually , but they haven’t requested it as a blog yet.
When he arrived at the European summit, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, stated that what is happening in Gaza “is not a humanitarian crisis, it is the failure of humanity”. In an open criticism of Israel, Borrell added: “It’s not an earthquake, it’s not a flood, it’s bombings.”
In the midst of this climate of pressure for a ceasefire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced yesterday that the director of the Mossad, David Barnea, is traveling to Qatar today to join the negotiations that come from ‘to agree a truce in the strip. Barnea will meet in Doha with CIA director William Burns. The US, along with Qatar and Egypt, act as mediators between Israel and Hamas, whose leaders are taking refuge in the Arab country.
Meanwhile, in Gaza the Palestinians killed by Israeli fire are approaching 32,000 civilians, most of them women and children, while Gazans are dying of hunger. Yesterday, the army besieged the Al-Xifa hospital in Gaza City for the fourth consecutive day. While Israel said it had detained more than 600 suspected Hamas members in and around the hospital, and that 140 had died, the Gaza government said in a statement that the Israeli army “deliberately killed 13 patients at Al-Xifa Medical Complex after depriving them of medicines, solutions, electricity, refills and oxygen”.
