Stephen Sahyuni, journalist and political commentator
The elusive cease-fire agreement in Gaza is not implemented under the agreed terms. The obstacle to ending the 11-month war, which has killed more than 40,000 people in Gaza, is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Aaron David Miller is an American Middle East analyst, writer, and negotiator. Miller worked for 24 years for the U.S. State Department and as an adviser on Arab-Israeli negotiations.
Miller is 4. in September, he told CNN that the ceasefire agreement between Netanyahu and Hamas will not happen, because the obstacle point is not the Philadelphia corridor (the border area between Gaza and Egypt), but rather Netanyahu's armchair.
Netanyahu is under tremendous pressure both domestically and globally to stop the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
Still, he seems to be resistant to intense pressure, even from the US, which is his source of weapons and cash to continue the war in Gaza. Millions of protesters calling for Palestinian freedom are taking to the streets around the world and world leaders are calling for a ceasefire.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis are on the streets demanding Netanyahu sign a ceasefire agreement to free their hostages. Israeli opposition leaders and peace activists are calling for a ceasefire and a change of government.
The International Court of Justice has ruled that the occupation of Palestine is contrary to international law.
Hamas, the Palestinian resistance, is sticking to its condition that the Israeli army fully withdraw from Gaza to accept a ceasefire between the two sides. But Netanyahu stuck to his demand to keep troops inside Gaza on the Egyptian border, which is called the Philadelphia corridor.
Hamas prevented Netanyahu from achieving his military goals in Gaza. No senior Hamas leader has been killed in Gaza, and Hamas ' military wing remains strong and fighting.
Hamas is 7. in October, he began a struggle that prompted the international community to side with the Palestinians. The US says a two-state solution is acceptable, and the UN considers it the only solution to the conflict.
The only country that opposes the two-state solution is Israel.
Netanyahu asked AIPAC (the U.S.-Israel Public Affairs Committee is a pro-Israel lobbying group that advocates for its policies before the legislative and executive branches of the United States) to pressure U.S. President Joe Biden out of the race. Biden has asked Netanyahu to make a ceasefire deal, release Israeli hostages, and stop the bloodshed in Gaza.
Biden's decision to drop out of the re-election race came just days after Netanyahu reneged on a promise of a ceasefire given to Biden.
Netanyahu refused to bow to Biden because Netanyahu's freedom depended on remaining in office. If he goes against his right-wing religious extremist allies, Ithamar Ben-Guir and Bezalel Smotrich, they will dismiss his government as hot potatoes.
If Netanyahu is out of office and has no immunity, he will serve a prison sentence on corruption charges for which he was found guilty.
AIPAC has been used as an effective tool in the hands of Netanyahu, as an ultra-powerful lobby that controls all Israeli issues in the U.S. government. AIPAC leaked information to the media that portrayed Biden as too old to run for a second term and to lose the race to Trump.
Netanyahu is betting on Vice President Kamala Harris ' victory over Trump. Despite former President Donald Trump having done more for Israel than any previous President, Trump has never forgotten that Netanyahu supported Biden in the 2020 election. Israel has thousands of citizens who also hold U.S. Citizenship and vote in U.S. elections.
Trump is well known for shutting down foreign wars that represent a financial outflow of American taxpayers. If Trump is elected, Netanyahu could get a phone call telling him that billions of dollars in arms and cash to Israel have been suspended, and that he would demand Netanyahu sign a ceasefire agreement.
"Anything but a cease-fire!"it has become Netanyahu's mantra.
Netanyahu is 2022. he took office in his current prime minister's term and said he had two goals: first, to increase the number of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and second, to sign a normalization agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi agreement is not on the table because of the Gaza war, but the spread of illegal settlements is raging at a much faster pace as the world is occupied by events in Gaza and the West Bank is in the shadows.
In June 2024. both CNN and the New York Times reported on a leaked conversation by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich explaining his plan to annex the occupied West Bank to Israel, which would end the two-state solution forever and prevent the freedom of the Palestinian people.
Smotrich has been in control of Civil Administration since 2022. Netanyahu formed the most right-wing government in Israel's history. He has the power in his office to complete the annexation plan, and the resulting deportation, which is ethnic cleansing paid for by U.S. taxpayers.
Israeli security minister Itamar Ben-gwir called 26. in August, Jews pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, one of the holiest places in Islam. Ben-Guir and Smotrich are the heads of the Jewish extremist parties that hold Netanyahu in power. No matter how hateful or inflammatory their statements are, Netanyahu is bound to them by both hand and foot.
Ben-gwir went so far in a radio interview that he called for a synagogue to be built on the site, which would likely spark a religious war with implications across the Middle East, including Indonesia, the largest Muslim population in the world.
Netanyahu is an obstacle to peace in Gaza and Israel. Israeli hostage families feel betrayed by their government, and their loved ones are forgotten and dying in Gaza.
The people of Gaza will never be safe as long as Netanyahu is in power, and the people of Israel will also be in constant fear of violence associated with resistance to the occupation of Palestine. The Geneva Convention explains the right of every person to hold arms in their struggle to regain their rights and stop occupation.
The basic values that every American clings to, which were paid for in American blood in 1776. freedom and the cessation of occupation. Being an American means standing by the Palestinian issue of freedom and the end of Israeli occupation.
Source: Netanyahu refuses a Gaza ceasefire on any terms – The Duran
Translation from English: Center for geostrategic studies
Title photo: jns.org
8. September 2024.
