US brokering Israel’s breach of the Gaza ceasefire

By the end of stage one of the three phase ceasefire deal, which halted the unprecedented livestreamed Israeli genocide in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his reduced cabinet and decided not to move from stage one to stage two.

The Israeli occupation authorities decided not to release over 600 Palestinian prisoners scheduled to be freed as stipulated by the deal. The occupation government claimed that they delayed the release of the Palestinian prisoners in protest against the alleged disrespect of the bodies of the Israeli prisoners handed over by the Palestinian resistance to the Red Cross teams in Gaza.

However, the issue, according to the families of Israeli prisoners in Gaza, analysts and opposition leaders, is that Netanyahu does not want to move to the next stage in which Tel Aviv “must” agree on ending the genocide in Gaza and completely withdrawing its forces from all the area of the besieged enclave.

“Israel breached the deal with Hamas as it does not want to move to stage two,” Viki Cohen, mother of an Israeli captive being held in Gaza, said. Israeli daily Haaretz wrote: “Netanyahu stalls stage two of the Gaza ceasefire and once again weaponises Israel’s grief.”

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The mediators carried out shuttle talks, trying to remove any alleged obstacles that might explode the deal. They received a pledge from Hamas to release bodies of four more Israeli captives before moving to stage two, handing them to Egypt without handover ceremonies.

In return, the Israeli occupation pledged to allow the entry of heavy equipment, mobile homes, tents, humanitarian aid and goods. Hamas fulfilled its pledge but Israel retreated. It even stopped the limited flow of aid and closed all the crossings, stopping all aid entry, cut electricity to the sole desalination plant and threatened to destroy aid warehouses across Gaza.

Israel’s acts are clearly aggressive and violate the ceasefire deal, they also show complete disregard for international law, but this is where the US steps in and plays its dirty role. Its Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff announced the breach of the ceasefire deal, demanding an extension to phase one and the release of more Israeli captives.

This proposal does not consider the suffering of the Palestinian residents of Gaza who have been waiting for the completion of the three phase deal in order to see the crossings reopened, the siege ended, hospitals and schools renovated and their homes rebuilt.

Of course, Hamas rejected Witkoff’s proposal, which was based on the Israeli request to extend the first phase. Hamas stressed its pledge to respect the ceasefire deal and that it would only release more Israeli captives under the terms of the three phase deal previously agreed.

Israel and the US then accused Hamas of rejecting moving forward with the ceasefire and began threatening its leadership and Gaza’s residents “THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!” should the Israeli captives not be released. No mention was made of the thousands of Palestinian captives enduring unprecedented harsh treatment and torture in Israel’s jails, where more than 60 have died since 7 October 2023.

Taking to his social media platform Truth Social, US President Donald Trump wrote: “I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job […] This is your last warning!” The Israeli occupation army then announced that it had called up 400,000 reservists and declared that it is ready to resume “fighting” in Gaza. Western and Israeli media also started portraying Hamas as rejectionists and parroting US and Israeli claims, describing the movement as the side which has not respected the deal.

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In order to help end the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, Hamas showed flexibility and agreed that its negotiation team would sit down with the Americans directly. The Time of Israel has since reported that Israel is trying to sabotage the talks between Hamas and the Americans.

In a report about the issue AP said Israel had “introduced what it said was a new US ceasefire plan — different from the one it agreed to in January — and is trying to force Hamas to accept it by imposing a siege on the Gaza Strip.”

Meanwhile, Witkoff, who is scheduled to travel to the Middle East this week, warned that the US would back Israel on any action it decides to take in Gaza if talks on the truce with Hamas fail. Witkoff stressed that his country wishes to “resolve matters with Hamas through dialogue,” but vowed “an alternative option that will not be good” if negotiations fail.

Different sources including some from Hamas have revealed that there are several plans on the table now. They include an American call for the release of ten captives who are dual American-Israeli citizens for a 60-day extension of the ceasefire, but Hamas insisted that it would not accept anything other than moving to phase two of the agreed deal.

I do not think that the US wishes to breach the deal or ignore any of its terms, but it is ready to back the Israeli occupation in its violations of the deal and crimes against Palestinians even if it is infuriating the American people.

The United States has bigger imperial projects in the region than those of Israel. It is not prepared to sacrifice those projects for the Zionist one. However, it is not ready to allow it to make the wrong decision.

American leaders, who have already started a fierce war against Americans and local and international students at US universities who have stood up against Israel’s genocide and war crimes, are prepared to pay any prices – no matter how high – to appease the Zionist lobbies because they paid for their positions through election campaigns and are able to mobilise against them to the degree that they might be ousted if they anger them.

This means that even if the US is unwilling to breach the ceasefire deal, it is ready to broker Israel’s breach and ready to pay towards it and send the necessary weapons to enable Tel Aviv to continue its genocide.

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The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.