“I am working quietly with Israel to significantly reduce the presence of its army in Gaza,” said Joe Biden, the president of the United States last night, in one of his clearest interventions on what he wants for Gaza. His Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, shortly landed in Tel-Aviv, having earlier met with the leaders of Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia Because three months after the beginning of the conflict in the strip, both are asking him to push for a cease-fire in Israel to de-escalate it. All are pressuring Washington to use its influence in Jerusalem. But for now, nothing. For now, everything gets complicated just when Blinken sets foot in Israel.
Hizbullah yesterday confirmed the death in Lebanon of Uissam al-Tauil, one of its leaders in the Raduan elite forces, due to an alleged Israeli attack. Israel claims it was at the forefront of these days’ attacks on its border positions that have left dozens injured in its ranks.
The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, for his part, yesterday visited the north of Israel and Kiryat Shmona, a city that is a regular target of the pro-Iranian militia and that today is evacuated and occupied almost entirely by reservists, he launched: “Hizbullah made a big mistake with us in 2006, and they are making a big mistake now. We will do whatever it takes. We prefer to do it without a large-scale campaign, but that will not stop us.”
Benny Gantz, a heavyweight in the national unity cabinet, insists that Israel is interested in a diplomatic solution to Lebanon, but his words are always drowned out by the incessant war noise that rules the region.
Yesterday evening it was also reported that the Israeli defense forces had killed in the area of ??Beit Jinn, in Syria, Hassan Hakaishah, who believes he is the leader of Hamas in Syrian territory for launching missiles against Israel.
The escalation of war in the Middle East has its new epicenter in the mountainous and currently uninhabited northern border shared by the Israelis, the Lebanese and the Syrians. And more after the death last week of Hamas’s number two in Beirut.
The fires are building, and Blinken, meanwhile, tries to smile before every meeting on the tour throughout the Middle East. He wants to reduce the tension that today floods the entire region. Everything is little. But nothing seems to have any effect. “Nobody said this would be easy,” he seemed to sigh on the side of the plane before flying to Tel-Aviv last night. And he added: “I will pressure Israel to see that it is imperative to do more to protect civilians [in Gaza].”
It seems that in Gaza there is a solution. The Minister of Defense of Israel, Yoav Gallant, has been asserting since last week that the north of the strip is considered to be under control, except for some strongholds of unorganized resistance. He also says that there is still a new phase in the offensive focused on the center and south, but that it is “less intense”; an adaptation of his strategy that, on paper, would be more precise, more in line with the goal of finding the leaders of Hamas and freeing the 129 hostages in the hands of the Islamist organization. It is the request of the United States.
But hospitals in the strip in central areas, such as Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, which is operating with barely 30% staff, report that dozens of patients arrive every few minutes for new fights
Blinken’s mediation to reduce tension in the region gets complicated before arriving in Israel tonight.
In addition, the scene is also incendiary inside Israel. Yesterday there were demonstrations again – albeit a minority – in the streets, even at the entrance to the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem, to call for the elections to be brought forward. And the words of the far-right ministers who speak of “resettlement” of the Palestinians outside of Gaza continue, even if the Secretary of State of the United States reminded on the landing in Doha that the Palestinians of the strip “must be able to return to their homes as soon as conditions permit” and that they “must not be pressured” to leave their beleaguered enclave. They are “irresponsible, incendiary” words, he liquidated. His persuasiveness will be seen in the next few hours.
Meanwhile, missile alerts are repeated every day in Israel, be it from Gaza or Lebanon. At the same time, there were at least three dead Palestinians in Tulkarem yesterday.
Blinken assured on Monday, after passing through the main capitals of the region, that there continues to be “a clear interest” in the Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel, but that for this it is necessary to stop the war in Gaza and establish a Palestinian state . And Josep Borrell, high representative of the European Union for foreign policy, is proving it in Saudi Arabia, where he discussed yesterday with the Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Faissal bin Farhan, “the steps” to “translate into action” the international consensus on the establishment of a Palestinian State that puts an end to the conflict. Both goals, for now, are a long way off.
