Israel continues to wait for Hamas’s response to its latest offer for a truce in Gaza, in an increasingly tense environment, with disagreements within the Government, the cutting of commercial relations with Turkey and diplomatic relations with Colombia.
Nothing new has been known about the Hamas cabals, after yesterday a source from the Palestinian group announced that the response to the Israeli proposal would not arrive until early next week and it was announced that it would send a delegation to Cairo “as as soon as possible” to continue debating the latest proposal.
Also yesterday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhayu in Jerusalem that a ground invasion of Rafah in Gaza would make it difficult to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia.
Blinken, on his seventh visit to Israel since the outbreak of the war, also insisted to the Israeli politician on the importance of sealing a truce pact with the Palestinian group as soon as possible.
And the more time passes, the more the pressure from the international community redoubles for Israel to stop its offensive against Gaza, which has already claimed the lives of 34,622 people.
Türkiye confirms cut of commercial relations and Colombia of diplomatic relations
Erdogan confirmed today that Turkey has “closed the door” to trade with Israel due to the “cruelty” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Gaza war, a decision that the Turkish Ministry of Commerce had announced last night.
«Unfortunately, Netanyahu has reacted cruelly towards children, women and the elderly. They can’t do anything. The entire West works with Israel. Faced with this, we can no longer hold out and we have taken measures,” Erdogan said.
On April 9, Turkey banned the export of a wide range of products to Israel, including steel, concrete and other materials that formed the bulk of bilateral trade, as a pressure measure to accelerate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Israel has responded by announcing that it will reduce all of Turkey’s economic relations with Gaza and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), in retaliation for Erdogan’s decision.
“Erdogan, the dictator who dreams of being sultan, works in the service of Hamas, violates the agreements and wants to harm Israel, but in reality he harms the Palestinians he intends to help,” says a statement from the Israeli ministry.
In addition, Israel will call on international economic forums to study possible sanctions against Turkey for violating trade agreements.
For its part, the Colombian Government today officially notified Israel of the breaking of diplomatic relations in rejection of what President Gustavo Petro called “genocide” in Gaza, and said that it will begin to coordinate the departure of that country’s diplomats in Colombia.
«The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia reports that yesterday (Thursday) the Note Verbal on the Government’s decision to break diplomatic relations with the State of Israel was officially delivered to the Israeli ambassador in Colombia (Gali Dagan). as of today,” the Colombian Foreign Ministry reported this Friday in a brief statement.
The pressures within the Government do not abate
At the other extreme, within his cabinet, the rejection of a possible truce by Netanyahu’s far-right partners does not abate.
The Israeli Finance Minister, the Jewish supremacist Bezalel Smotrich, once again charged this Friday against a possible truce with Hamas and called for an invasion “with all power” against the Gazan city of Rafah, where 1.4 million people live in overcrowded conditions.
In inflammatory language, the minister accuses the United States of granting the Palestinian group and its leaders “immunity” and preventing Hamas from being “destroyed.”
Smotrich, along with fellow Jewish supremacists, Itamar Ben Gvir, Minister of National Security, and Orit Strock, Minister of Settlements, has already threatened to leave the Government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if an agreement is reached and the offensive stops. .
However, these statements coincide with the publication today in The Times of Israel newspaper of a survey, according to which 54% of Israelis support reaching an agreement with Hamas for the release of the 133 hostages held by Hamas. Palestinian group is in its power, although it is unknown how many are still alive.
In contrast, 38% of Israelis are in favor of a military invasion of Rafah.
The survey specifies that 79% of far-right voters are in favor of a ground offensive against the Gaza region, while 81% of center and left voters are in favor of a pact to free the people who They remain kidnapped. EFE
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