Speaking at the United Nations Security Council Briefing on the Situation in the Middle East last week, China’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Fu Cong, pointed out that two months ago, when pushing for Security Council Resolution 2735, the United States claimed that Israel had accepted a cease-fire agreement. But that instead of credible signs of Israel’s commitment to a cease-fire, what was being seen was ever-expanding military operations and ever-increasing civilian casualties. He also correctly pointed out that the US has enough influence over Israel to push it to stop its military operations and to negotiate in good faith for an immediate and durable cease-fire.
Instead, the US is continuing to string the same old line. On Thursday, mediators from the US, Qatar and Egypt said they had presented a proposal for a cease-fire and hostage release deal that “closes the remaining gap” between Israel and Hamas. US President Joe Biden said on Friday: “We are closer than we have ever been.” Any agreement that suffices to bring the brutal conflict between Israel and Hamas to an immediate end would of course be a tremendous accomplishment. It would not only stop the humanitarian crisis in the region that has been worsening on a daily basis, but also prevent a wider Middle East war. But at this point at least, neither Israel nor Hamas sounds as though a deal is in the offing. “We are not on the verge of an agreement or a real negotiation, but are faced with directives imposed by the US,” senior Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.
It is not only the US that is supposedly trying to push a deal into place, France and the United Kingdom have sent their top diplomats to Israel to deliver the message of urgency in ending the hostilities. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne both underscored now is a key moment “because it could lead to peace or war”.
Continuing or expanding the present conflict would prove disastrous not only for the two parties themselves, but for the civilian population in Gaza, which is paying a heavy price for the US’ indulgence of its ally. But neither Israel nor Hamas seems ready to accept the other’s latest conditions for a cease-fire and hostage swap, as their conditions are still too divergent for now. Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu government insists its conditions for a deal remain unchanged, which are unacceptable to Hamas. And Hamas remains suspicious of Israel’s sincerity, and is still counting on Teheran’s and its regional allies’ promised strikes to weaken Israel’s resolve to pursue its war aims.
Yet despite the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave and the rising death toll that have drained international sympathy for Israel, the Netanyahu government has shown no sign of de-escalating its military operations in Gaza. Nor has Washington made corresponding moves to press for de-escalation. Instead, both the Biden administration and the Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, have reiterated their respective support for Israel, the former with new arms sales. That may at least partly explain why a senior Hamas official said there had been no progress in Qatar, and the mediators were “selling illusions”.
Israel has just issued a new evacuation order to make way for its further military operation in Gaza. There have been new reports of violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in occupied territories.
Such developments certainly are not conducive to striking a deal.
China has reiterated that the key to avoiding the deterioration and escalation of the situation lies in achieving a comprehensive and lasting cease-fire in Gaza without delay. It urges the US to act responsibly and take sincere actions to push Israel to stop its military operations in Gaza as soon as possible.
