US President Joe Biden said that he urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to establish a temporary ceasefire to enable the release of prisoners, coinciding with the escalation of disputes within Israel and the threat of War Council members Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot Netanyahu to dissolve the war government.
Biden added to reporters at the White House yesterday evening, Friday, that he held extensive conversations with Netanyahu over the past few days, each of which lasted approximately an hour, and he made clear the matter he strongly supports: There must be a temporary ceasefire in order to get the prisoners out.
The American President expressed his hope that the Israelis will not carry out any large-scale ground invasion in the Rafah area, south of Gaza, and that a prisoner exchange deal will be completed and the Americans will be returned to their country, noting that the deal is currently being negotiated pending the results of that.
The White House said that Biden informed Netanyahu again – last Thursday – that he should not proceed with military action in Rafah without a convincing and implementable plan to protect Palestinian civilians.
This comes at a time when the American newspaper Politico quoted American officials as saying that the differences between Biden and Netanyahu may soon reach a boiling point, with Israel planning to launch a ground attack on Rafah.
The newspaper quoted a well-informed American official as saying that Biden’s team believes that the Israeli military operation in Rafah is a disaster that would be better avoided, and said that Netanyahu did not give Biden any indication during their recent call that he was reconsidering the possible operation in Rafah.
Disagreements grew within Israeli political circles following Netanyahu’s failure to achieve any of the goals of the war on Gaza (Reuters)
Stormy meeting
Meanwhile, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that great tension prevailed at the war cabinet meeting last Thursday, and that war council members Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot threatened Netanyahu to dissolve the war cabinet if he continued to make unilateral decisions regarding the prisoners.
During the meeting, Gantz and Eisenkot expressed their dissatisfaction with Netanyahu’s decision not to send another delegation to the Egyptian capital, Cairo, to participate in negotiations to release detainees, according to the same source, noting that Defense Minister Yoav Galant – also – expressed his dissatisfaction with Netanyahu’s decision not to send the delegation. Negotiator to Cairo.
Last Wednesday, Netanyahu decided not to send the Israeli delegation to Cairo last Thursday, after he was engaged on Tuesday in negotiations for the release of detainees in Gaza.
Last Thursday, the Israeli Security Ministerial Council held a meeting to discuss proposals for a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas, and the proposal was also discussed in a war council meeting.
For several weeks, disagreements have grown within Israeli political circles, led by the government, following Netanyahu’s failure to achieve any of the goals of the war on the Gaza Strip, the first of which was the return of detainees and the elimination of Hamas.
In this context, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said last Thursday that tension within the government’s war council had reached its peak in recent days.
Israel estimates that there are about 134 prisoners still detained in the Gaza Strip, according to identical media reports and statements by Israeli officials.
The Israeli war government, or emergency government, was formed on October 11, following the outbreak of the Israeli war on Gaza.
The war council within the emergency government consists of 3 main members: They are: Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Benny Gantz, along with two observer ministers, Gadi Eisenkot and Robin Dermer.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, leaving tens of thousands of civilian victims, most of them children and women, in addition to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and massive destruction of infrastructure, which led to Tel Aviv appearing before the International Court of Justice on charges of Genocide for the first time since its founding.
#Biden #calls #Netanyahu #temporary #ceasefire #Gaza #release #prisoners
2024-02-16 23:27:38
