‘Israel Doesn’t Want a Ceasefire’: Truce Talks Take Back Seat as Rafah Attack Surges
Children play in the rubble of a damaged building where two hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forcess in Rafah, on the southern Gaza Strip on February 12, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas
Mary ManleyHamas claimed on Monday to accept an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but Israel said the deal did not meet their demands and decided to move forward with their assault on Rafah. As ceasefire talks hung in the air on Monday, Israel began their aerial and ground attacks on Rafah, the largest city in Gaza where war refugees were once told to shelter in safety. About 1.4 million displaced Palestinians are in the city, and Israel’s offensive is underway without any plan to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis.On Tuesday, Esteban Carrillo, a Beirut-based Ecuadorian journalist and current editor for The Cradle, joined Sputnik’s Fault Lines to discuss the ongoing attacks on Rafah, as well as the political implications that those attacks will pose on US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“For weeks now, there's been this effort to make it seem like it's Hamas that doesn't want a deal, that they don't want to sit down at the table to accept Israeli demands. Where, in reality, it's the opposite,” Carrillo explained. “Hamas has been very steadfast in what they're asking for. And it's Israel who doesn't want a lasting ceasefire. This is really the crux of the issue here.”
WorldIsrael Declines Ceasefire Proposal, Continues Rafah Operation to Pressure HamasYesterday, 00:27 GMTCarrillo added that CIA Director William Burns was reportedly involved in drafting the bill that was presented to Hamas and which Hamas said yes to. Doing so reportedly upset Israeli authorities who said they felt blindsided by the US.“Israel has maintained that they would enter Rafah. With a ceasefire deal, no ceasefire deal, they said, ‘we are going into Rafah.’ Why? Because Rafah is where this final victory against Hamas lies, right? This is what they’ve been telling everyone,” Carrillo said.“Rafah has been besieged already for weeks. For the past 24 hours, more than 24 hours at this point, this tiny strip of land has been coming under constant bombardment overnight, right after Hamas approved the ceasefire deal,” he added. “Israel deployed what they like to call a fire build bomb in an area, where 1.5 million people are huddling after being told to go there.”Sputnik’s Melik Abdul noted that the Biden administration has reportedly delayed shipments of ammunition that were meant to be sent to Israel, according to three US officials.Meanwhile, White House spokesman John Kirby said the administration’s “commitment to Israel’s security remains ironclad”. Abdul added that Netanyahu does not seem to be “concerned at all” about appearances despite US politicians glumly watching their poll numbers plummet due to US voters’ stances on the war.“Well, no, he doesn’t, right? He hasn’t portrayed an ounce of seeming to care since the 7th of October,” Carrillo responded, noting that after Antony Blinken had returned from a trip to Israel, he said the actions of its government reflects a majority of what the Israeli public wants.
AnalysisIsrael Closes In on Rafah After Banning Al JazeeraYesterday, 05:26 GMT“It’s not like [Netanyahu] stopped showing concern, it’s just that there was never any concern. And what the US is doing by halting this weapons shipment, it’s just one ammo shipment that they’re holding,” he added. “It’s not like they’re holding the $16 billion something package that they signed a couple of weeks ago. It’s such a weak move. If you actually want to do something, you could have done something months ago, you could have done something weeks ago.”“And I think we’ll have to see what happens with Rafah. I don’t think the US is really going to stand in the way that they are trying to say they are. I don’t think they are going to cut the bomb deliveries. Biden said himself, ‘there are no red lines for Israel,’” Carrillo added. “And [the US government] can point and they can clutch their pearls and they can say all they want about how Benjamin Netanyahu is the worst person in the world. When it comes down to it, the bombs are going to continue to flow.”
