Ambiguities in Biden’s Gaza truce proposal

Crescent International

Dhu al-Qa'dah 25, 1445 2024-06-02

Daily News Analysis

by Crescent International

Much confusion surrounds Joe Biden’s May 31 truce proposal for Gaza.

He called it the “new Israeli proposal” but a statement from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, “Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: the destruction of Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages (sic) and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.

“Under the proposal, Israel will continue to insist these conditions are met before a permanent cease-fire is put in place.”

The Islamic resistance movement Hamas said it views Biden’s proposal “positively”.

So, the question remains: is it Israel’s proposal or Biden’s and whether it will succeed?

It is inconceivable that Netanyahu did not know about it before Biden announced it May 31 afternoon.

Let us consider what the proposal Biden put forth consists of.

There are three stages to the proposal.

First phase

1: Complete ceasefire for six weeks;

2: Israeli withdrawal from “all populated areas of Gaza”;

3: Hamas and other resistance groups’ release of some Israeli prisoners, including women, the elderly and wounded;

4: Israeli release of Palestinian prisoners it kidnapped from their homes in the West Bank or even from Gaza;

5: Return of Palestinian civilians to their homes anywhere in Gaza; and,

6: At least 600 trucks of humanitarian aid to enter Gaza every day to deal with the famine that has afflicted much of the population.

Second phase

1: Agreement to be reached on a permanent end to hostilities in the six weeks of truce.

If an agreement is not reached, the truce would be extended until a permanent end to hostilities is reached, according to Biden;

2: Release of all Israeli prisoners, who are alive; and,

3: Full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Third phase

1: The remains of all the dead Israeli prisoners, (killed during Israeli bombings of Gaza) to be returned; and,

2: Reconstruction to begin in Gaza to be paid for by what has been referred to as “the international community” but in essence by wealthy Arab states, as in the past.

There are many details that are unclear and need to be worked out.

Given the deep mistrust the Palestinians resistance movements have of the zionist occupiers, things can go wrong quickly.

Besides, the Americans are compulsive liars and completely unreliable.

They fully back the zionist genocide in Gaza.

The Biden regime has backed Netanyahu and his neo-Nazi allies with financial, military and diplomatic support.

Netanyahu faces pressure from several sides inside Israel.

His neo-Nazi allies—Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir—have threatened to bring down the coalition regime if Netanyahu accepts a ceasefire without “eliminating” Hamas.

Elimination of Hamas is virtually impossible.

In his May 31 speech, Biden attempted to present to Netanyahu a way out of the dead end he had trapped himself in.

He said Hamas has been “militarily degraded” to the point where it will not able to mount another October 7 type attack.

Whether this is true and whether this will satisfy the Israeli neo-Nazis is a moot point.

War cabinet member Benny Gantz has threatened to quit if Netanyahu does not come up with a post-war arrangement for Gaza by June 8.

Family members of Israeli prisoners are demanding that the truce deal on offer be accepted to secure the release of their loved ones.

On June 1, they held another massive rally in Tel Aviv to press their demand.

Netanyahu’s real fear springs from the fact that the moment the war ends, he will end up in prison.

Terrified of this prospect, his ass-like stubbornness has led him to drag his feet even more.

Will Biden be able to force him to accept a truce?

The octogenarian American president is aware that his popularity is in the pits.

His support for Israeli genocide in Gaza has earned him the epithet, #genocideJoe.

With presidential elections looming and public anger mounting over his brazen support for Israel, he desperately needs a foreign policy success.

Will he be able to pull it off is the million-dollar question.

Many observers question his ability to do so because of the power of the pro-Israel lobby.

America is a zionist colony.

Every day this becomes more and more obvious.

It will be interesting to see whether this latest proposal will succeed or face the same fate as a similar one of early May that Hamas had accepted but Netanyahu rejected.