Negotiations on Gaza Underway as Netanyahu Escalates the Carnage

Intense negotiations are ongoing to reach a deal between Israel and Palestine on at the very least a temporary ceasefire to allow the gradual release of the hostages taken by Hamas and prisoner swaps. The Palestinian side, for which Qatar and Egypt are acting as mediators, insist that Israel commit to put an end to the war and remove its forces from Gaza, which Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu adamantly refuses to do. As a matter of fact, he ruthlessly stated on Feb. 24 that the Israeli forces would continue their military operation against Rafah, no matter how many civilians are killed, and that Israel must be able to exert total control over Gaza, now and in the future. That, of course, is unacceptable for the Palestinians.

Nonetheless, according to some reports, some progress has been made in the talks. Apparently, the resignation on Feb. 26 of Palestinian Prime Minister Shtayyeh, to allow for a “reformed” PLO, is part of the deal pushed by the United States.

Meanwhile, the suffering and dying in Gaza continue. This has led to an extraordinary mobilization of United Nations agencies. A new statement was released Feb. 21 by the leaders of 18 aid organizations, including the OCHA, CARE, UNICEF, the WFP and WHO. Their statement reads in part: “The health system [in the Gaza Strip] continues to be systematically degraded, with catastrophic consequences…. Diseases are rampant. Famine is looming. Water is at a trickle. Basic infrastructure has been decimated. Food production has come to a halt. Hospitals have turned into battlefields. One million children face daily traumas.”

Their cry of alarm was echoed by the Secretary General of Médecins sans frontières, Christopher Lockyear, in testimony Feb. 22 to the UN Security Council. In horrifying detail, he presented the situation on the ground. Hospitals and healthcare centers, including those of MSF, have been bombed and raided, and staff members detained. The excuse given, he noted, is that “medical facilities have been used for military purposes, yet we have seen zero independently verified evidence of this”.

Lockyear strongly criticized the failure of the UNSC to intervene to stop the carnage, but especially hit the United States: “We are appalled by the willingness of the United States to use its powers as a permanent Council member to obstruct efforts to adopt the most evident of resolutions: one demanding an immediate and sustained ceasefire. Three times this Council has had an opportunity to vote for the ceasefire that is so desperately needed and three times the United States has used its veto power…”