HAMAS ACCEPTS: Netanyahu backed into a political corner & he’s fuming!

Right, so the old adage goes that you cannot negotiate with terrorists and certainly within political circles we’ve seen that used for gain. Here in the UK for example Jeremy Corbyn was accused of being a friend of Hamas and friends with the IRA, despite the way to peace, certainly where the latter was concerned, did require negotiation and was successful, leading to a peace process.
With Hamas it’s been an ongoing thing, though of course it takes two sides to create tensions and both sides have to be willing and able to come to the table and negotiate in good faith to reach a resolution.
The terrorist label when applied to Hamas therefore is an interesting one right now though, since they have over the weekend accepted a peace deal, that has been guaranteed by Egypt, Qatar AND the United States, which will include hostage releases and IDF withdrawal from Gaza and it is Netanyahu who is now saying no. The simple fact of the matter is that the hostages mean nothing to him, they never have in my view. He’s so far in now, his grip on power so intertwined with what Israel are doing in Gaza, that he cannot afford for it to end. Ever. So if terrorists are truly people you cannot negotiate with, who is really the terrorist here in which case?
Right, so over the weekend there appeared to be a bit of an unexpected breakthrough in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, and this was somewhat unexpected because it does not amount to a permanent ceasefire, there are in fact serious concerns on the part of Hamas negotiators that following the US Elections this year, that there will be a renewed assault on Gaza by Israel. However despite that, Hamas have agreed to it, and their agreement, has thrown Benjamin Netanyahu into a complete panic, and that reaction might have been exactly what Hamas were banking on, that actually, despite the lack of a permanence in this ceasefire deal, there might still be a win here.
Let’s take a look at this ceasefire deal first though, because if the only word you’ve heard about this is from our western media, or David Cameron crowing about a very generous 40 day ceasefire, then you won’t be fully informed as to what it is any more than Cameron appears to have grasped it.
The deal as it stands now is coming in three phases, and this has been spelt out by Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar and reprinted by Israel based Haaretz, two nations definitely not in agreement with each other, so that does give the plan as presented by them a good deal of credence.
The first phase will be 40 days long, during which the IDF’s activities will be suspended, forces will withdraw from populated areas, such as Rafah and from border areas with Israel, though the IDF will remain along the corridor they’ve built across the middle of Gaza, the Nevatim Corridor, which connects Israel to the pier that is getting built on the Gazan Coast by the US. Hostages will be released every three days, first women, including female soldiers for the first 33 days. Israel will be releasing Palestinian hostages they hold – prisoners as the media keeps referring to them as, though with so many not charged with anything, they are hostages – according to a given list, which will be 40 Palestinians hostages for every 1 Israeli hostage and all will be women in a like for like sense, half being those serving life sentences and half being those serving sentences not more than 10 years. When men begin getting released by Hamas, Israel will release 20 of their male hostages, based on a like for like age and health related basis, beginning with older and sicker individuals. On day seven, Hamas will submit a list of living hostages they hold except for those they’ve already released by then.
On hostage release days there will be no air traffic, drones or IDF planes flying over Gaza for 8 to 10 hours a day. Israel must also during this time allow Gazans to return to their homes, so no longer will so many be trapped in Rafah and also allow in aid, still queuing up at borders despite Israeli claims to be letting it in.
On Day 22, the IDF will then leave the Nevatim Corridor as well and will increase aid to the north of Gaza where it is most urgently needed, 500 trucks including 50 fuel trucks are the quoted figures.
On day 34 of this first phase, the second phase will begin, so there is an overlap. I don’t quite understand that, but that is what is reported. Phase 2 will be 42 days long. Not all the details of this phase have been reported yet, but prisoner exchanges will continue, IDF withdrawal to border regions will continue, moves in principle towards a prolonged and lasting ceasefire deal, though that isn’t set in stone.
The third phase that will follow that, again 42 days long, includes the release of all hostage bodies and a 5 year rehabilitation plan will begin to restore infrastructure, though no military infrastructure will be permitted.
That is the deal as things stand, that is what Benjamin Netanyahu firmly believed Hamas would not accept, they have it appears accepted it, and he’s gone nuts and is now set on sabotaging the deal, because bringing the hostages home, if it hadn’t become obvious by now already, has never been his priority, but at this point in time, with global opinion turned against him and his actions and that of his government, his only priority still, instead of making things right, is how he can best cling onto power. Even now all that matters to Benjamin Netanyahu is himself and Hamas like many others could see it, knew it and acted accordingly to give him a very bad day, that is certainly one way of looking at this situation.
Whilst these negotiations were going on, Netanyahu was already looking to push Hamas to reject it, and piling on pressure for them to do so, the sabotage already beginning by saying, whether they effectively agreed to this ceasefire or not, he was still going to go into Rafah anyway, eliminate Hamas, total victory all the other soundbites he’s stuck to. This has not gone down well in his cabinet, his Minister without Portfolio for example, Benny Gantz has called his rhetoric ‘hysteria for political reasons’ and what those reasons are, are becoming rapidly exposed.
The closer Netanyahu comes to a peace deal, to a hostage exchange deal, the faster he runs away from it, or chooses to screw it up, by leaning on negotiators to prevent them from fulfilling a previously given mandate or by making hugely damaging public speeches, which screw things up. It is intentional and it’s intentional because if he agrees to any of this, his government will effectively collapse. His problem is that he was so sure Hamas would reject it, that he’d already agreed to it. If he goes through with it, he’ll lose his hard right headcase ministers, the likes of Smotrich or Ben-Gvir and that’ll collapse his coalition, if he doesn’t go through with it, the blame cannot possibly be laid at the feet of Hamas, it will be all on him and that will make life very awkward for Israel’s allies around the world to not call him out over it. It will also make negotiations impossible, or pointless, however you want to look at it, if he will just scupper things every time they aren’t going exactly how he wants them to.
He's committed himself to going into Rafah, this deal stops him from doing so, making any move to do so counter to the agreement and he’s the only legitimate target for blame. Not even Genocide Joe could find a scapegoat to excuse Israel for that. He agreed to this plan believing Hamas wouldn’t and they have wrong footed him, I think knowing the problems it would cause him to agree to it instead. All the pressure is now on Netanyahu and not them.
Benjamin Netanyahu is a guy who has lasted as long as he has and gotten away with it and gotten his way in whatever he seemingly wants, through threats, pressure, incitement and getting cover for it each and every time because Israel gets treated differently to every other country on Earth. Every time he has been elected it has been the equivalent of Israel dousing itself in petrol and setting itself alight, only for other nations with an interest in keeping this colonial Middle Eastern project alive, turning up to extinguish the flames.
Right now Netanyahu is bleating that despite accepting the terms, he can’t not go into Rafah now as to leave Hamas intact would see an attack from them again in the future. I would remind people at this point that Israel is actively blocking an independent investigation into the night of October 7th and talking to witnesses, because they’ve done it already and the world should take their word for it. Not happening. Let investigators from the UN in, otherwise it looks like you have something to hide. A two state solution and a return to pre 1967 borders however, would completely negate Hamas’ reason to exist however. End the occupation, it is Israel’s illegal occupation, which must also end, the treatment of Palestine under their occupation has been exposed now too, which brough the likes of Hamas into existence. If Israel want peace, then they have to give Palestinians their right to exist back along with their lands, their rights and their freedoms.
With Haaretz carrying much of this news and informing Israeli people as to what their leader is really doing and what is really going on with his intentions, his putting himself first and foremost and the recovery of hostages barely an afterthought, it’s a matter of time before Netanyahu probably seeks to gag them too, he’s done just that with Al Jazeera, uncovering far too much of what his diktat is doing to Gaza as they have been doing, too often at the cost of their own journalists lives and nothing quite screams democracy in action quite like gagging the free and fearless press – the real thing – as has happened here. Check out this video recommendation next for all the details on that story and I’ll hopefully catch you on the next vid. Cheers folks.