While Israel’s army is intensifying its fighting against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip, there has been another rocket alarm on the Israeli side. As the Israeli army reported on Tuesday night, the sirens were wailing again on the border with the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously said during a rare visit to troops fighting in Gaza that Israel would “deepen the fight in the coming days.” The dismantling of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza are prerequisites for peace, Netanyahu wrote in a guest article published on Tuesday for the Wall Street Journal newspaper.
Report: Israel’s strategy minister expected in Washington
According to a media report, his Minister for Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, is expected in Washington for talks on the same day. Dermer wants to discuss his own plans with Israel’s most important ally for a new, low-intensity phase in the war, which is scheduled to begin by the end of January, the news portal “Axios” reported, citing two Israeli and US officials. The US wants Israel to move towards more targeted operations against Hamas. Given the high number of civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military operation has been heavily criticized internationally.
Netanyahu: Act in accordance with international law
Netanyahu protested against this in the “Wall Street Journal”: Israel “continues to act in full accordance with international law.” Israel is doing its best to keep the number of civilian casualties “as low as possible.” According to the Hamas health authority, more than 20,600 people have been killed so far. “Falsely blaming Israel for these victims will only encourage Hamas and other terrorist organizations around the world to deploy human shields,” Netanyahu wrote.
Protest choirs in Israel’s parliament
“To invalidate this cruel and cynical strategy, the international community must fully blame Hamas for these victims. It must recognize that Israel is fighting the larger battle of civilized war against barbarism,” the leader wrote. Meanwhile, Netanyahu is also receiving protests in his own country. The day before, relatives of the Israeli Gaza hostages chanted during a speech by the head of government in parliament to demand immediate measures from Netanyahu to free the more than 100 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. “Now, now, now,” they chanted again and again from the parliamentary gallery.
Hamas rejects new ceasefire
Many are calling for a second ceasefire so that those abducted can be exchanged for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. During the first ceasefire lasting several days at the end of November, 105 hostages were exchanged for 240 Palestinians. However, Hamas rejected a temporary new ceasefire on Monday evening and called for a permanent ceasefire. The terrorist organization was reacting to an Arab media report that Egypt had drawn up a draft to end the Gaza war in several stages. Among other things, this provides for a ceasefire of at least two weeks, it was said.
Netanyahu: There can be no peace without destroying Hamas
“Hamas must be destroyed, the Gaza Strip must be demilitarized and Palestinian society must be de-radicalized. These are the three prerequisites for peace between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors in the Gaza Strip,” Israel’s head of government wrote in his guest article. During his visit to the troops on Monday, he spoke of a long battle whose end was not imminent. Nevertheless, diplomatic discussions about what will happen afterwards are already underway in the background. According to Axios, Netanyahu’s Minister for Strategic Affairs, Dermer, also wants to talk about this during his visit to Washington on Tuesday.
Discussions about reformed autonomous authority
The US is betting on a revitalized and revamped Palestinian Authority (PA) led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Washington wants to pave the way for the ailing authority that governs the West Bank to take control again in Gaza, the Washington Post wrote on Tuesday. Netanyahu has so far rejected this idea. In recent weeks, however, Dermer and other officials have begun talking to US colleagues about a “reformed” PA, Axios reported.
But first, Netanyahu wants Gaza to be demilitarized after Hamas is destroyed, as he wrote in the Wall Street Journal. The fact that the PA is demilitarizing the Gaza Strip is a “pipe dream,” his post continues. “It did not succeed before Hamas drove it out of the area in 2007, and it did not succeed in the areas it controls today,” Netanyahu wrote. For the foreseeable future, Israel will have to retain “ultimate security responsibility” for the Gaza Strip.
The war was triggered by the terrorist attack by Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7th in Israel near the border with Gaza. They killed more than 1,200 people. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive that has so far killed more than 20,600 people and injured more than 54,500, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority.
What will be important on Tuesday
Israel’s Minister for Strategic Affairs, Dermer, is expected in Washington for talks about the war in the White House and the State Department, according to Axios. Dermer will meet with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, US Secretary of State Tony Blinken and members of Congress, it said.
