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Washington- Despite the number of Palestinian casualties reaching more than 25,000 martyrs, the president stands joe biden Rejecting the idea of a ceasefire in the ongoing Israeli aggression against Gaza strip Since the seventh of last October.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirms his country’s support for reaching a “humanitarian truce”, which aims to release all “hostages” and bring additional humanitarian aid into the Strip, as was the case in previous temporary truces, which were followed by the resumption of Israeli aggression.
Humanitarian truces are similar to ceasefires, and you know them United nations “A temporary cessation of violence in the short term to distribute humanitarian aid.”
Unlike a ceasefire, which often allows for dialogue between parties to a conflict or even steps toward a peace agreement, a temporary pause focuses only on humanitarian relief in most cases. Humanitarian pauses usually relate to a specific geographical area within areas of hostilities to facilitate specific humanitarian action, such as allocating safe corridors for the movement of people, or allowing aid to arrive.
Permanent or temporary truce?
Kirby refused to confirm the Wall Street Journal’s report regarding a proposal to stop the war for 90 days and release about 132 hostages in three stages, and said, “Once again we need a pause in the fighting to do this, but we do not support, as of today, a general ceasefire.” .
In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Gregory Avtandilian, an expert on Middle East peace and a professor at the American University in Washington, said, “Biden’s failure to call for a ceasefire yet, despite increasing international pressure, explains what he said from the beginning, that he shares Israel’s goals of defeating Israel.” agitation. Biden remains reluctant to pressure the Israelis at this stage to end their campaign in Gaza, but he is frustrated with Netanyahu because of the large number of Palestinian civilian deaths.
The Wall Street Journal confirmed that “the American intelligence assessment supports the argument that Israel cannot eliminate Hamas within any reasonable time frame.”
Daniel Levy, head of the America-Middle East Research Project and a former member of the Israeli negotiating teams for the Middle East peace process, wrote, “The Biden team must correct course, starting by exercising the real diplomatic and military influence available to it to move Israel in the direction of American interests, and not the other way around.” “.
Levy pointed out, “The first and most important shift is for the administration to embrace the need for a complete ceasefire now. This demand cannot be merely formal, but the administration must condition the transfer of more military supplies to Israel to an end to the war and an end to the collective punishment of the civilian population.” “The Palestinians.”
It must also establish mechanisms to supervise the use of American weapons already at Israel’s disposal. “Ending the Israeli offensive in Gaza is also the surest way to avoid a regional war and the key to ensuring the release of the hostages,” Levy adds.
Factors driving change
In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Ambassador David Mack, former US Assistant Secretary of State for Middle Eastern Affairs, who previously worked at his country’s consulate in Jerusalem, pointed out the need for Biden to “overcome his lifelong sympathy for the Jews and for Israel.”
Mack noted that “Biden’s reckless embrace ofBenjamin Netanyahu -He is someone who actively opposed the Democratic Party when Biden was Vice President Barack Obama After the attacks of last October 7, this began to change, and there are signs that Biden is gradually changing his position regarding a ceasefire in exchange for the release of all hostages who are still being held in Gaza. Biden has also become very clear about the long-term need for a two-state solution that includes the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
Ambassador Mack summarized to Al Jazeera Net 3 factors driving what he considered to be a gradual change in Biden’s position, as follows:
- First: The growth of pro-Palestinian sentiment among factions within the Democratic Party and independent voters during the presidential election year.
- Second: Biden hears the calls of countries allied with America, which believe that Israel has gone too far, and that Washington needs to use its influence to respond forcefully.
- Third: Biden will listen to more voices of Jews and Israelis who see the necessity of resorting to negotiation to stop the cycle of violence, especially after the fact that it is difficult to eliminate the Hamas movement has been confirmed.
Mac emphasized that Biden, “despite his long-standing love for Israel as an idea and a state, is also a realistic politician, and will not ignore the growing internal and external realities.”
Voice of Americans
While Diana Greenwald, a professor at the City University of New York, considered that Biden contradicts American public opinion. Greenwald told Al Jazeera Net, “The majority of American voters support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza since at least last November.”
Since then, the same spokeswoman continues, more than 10,000 additional Palestinians have been killed, hundreds of thousands are starving, and not a single Israeli hostage has been rescued. Explaining that saying that the Biden administration is formulating its policies in response to American public opinion contradicts reality.
“The Biden administration believes that the political risks of strengthening the ceasefire — for example, losing the support of the pro-Israel lobby and donors during an election year — will outweigh the potential gains among its Democratic base,” Greenwald stated.
According to Greenwald, President Biden seems to believe that through dull and vague references to the two-state solution in his public statements, the domestic and international public will be convinced that he has a coherent strategy for how to end this genocidal violence.
Unfortunately, the spokeswoman continues, President Biden’s meager reference to Palestinian sovereignty was immediately undermined by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s dismissive statements. The Biden administration does not have a clear strategy. They have hitched their wagon to the scorched earth campaign against the Palestinian people, and they are losing influence over Israel day by day.”
The Jewish lobby
Adam Shapiro – responsible for the Palestinian-Israeli file at the Democracy for the Arab World Now organization – explained to Al Jazeera Net that Biden’s position cannot be understood politically, and perhaps “Biden is afraid that he will demand a cessation of fighting, and that Netanyahu will reject it publicly, as was the case in the case of the call for a two-state solution.” .
Shapiro considered that “there is a dimension that seems childish in the Biden administration’s approach to rejecting calls to stop the fighting, and this is linked to the early exit of these calls from the leaders of the progressive movement in the party, and Biden fears appearing as if he complied with the calls of this movement.”
Shapiro doubted that Biden would have a real desire to demand a ceasefire, given the huge cost of this position in a difficult election year, as Biden cannot risk the burden of confronting Israel on an issue that the financially wealthy Jewish lobby opposes, despite Biden’s awareness of the cost of his refusal to demand. With the expectation of losing the votes of Arab Americans, progressive Jews, and many other minority votes.
