–Analysis–
PARIS — Once again, the faint hope of a ceasefire in Gaza of the last few days has been dashed, leaving the territory to sink ever further into tragedy.
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A food distribution operation Sunday in the south of Gaza turned into another nightmare, with multiple people killed when the Israeli army opened fire. The Hamas Ministry of Health put the death toll at 31, while the International Committee of the Red Cross counted 21 dead and over 100 wounded who were brought to its medical center. A British nurse in another hospital described it as “carnage.”
The Israeli army denies firing on the crowd, saying it was only warning shots. There are still no foreign journalists allowed in Gaza to verify specific incidents first-hand. Yet the testimonies the international press has gathered over the past two weeks are devastating: Israel is trying to set up a food aid system without the United Nations or NGOs, with a mysterious, inexperienced organization. And after three months of leaving the territory without food, as soon as a distribution is announced, gathering crowds of desperate, starving people can sometimes turn into a death trap.
Following the failure of the ceasefire attempt, as is often the case in such circumstances, the opposing parties put more energy into blaming each other for the failure, rather than into finding solutions.
Who Netanyahu won’t ignore
In practice, the Islamists of Hamas do not want a ceasefire without guarantees that the war will not resume once the last Israeli hostages have been freed, even if this means extending the suffering of the population; while the Jewish State, through the voice of its Defense Minister Israel Katz, declared Sunday that the offensive in Gaza would continue “against all targets, regardless of any negotiations.”
And don’t count too much on Steve Witkoff, the American real estate billionaire, who is the lead U.S. mediator. His agenda is the same as Donald Trump’s: and neither is ready, at this stage, to impose an end to this war on Israel, as demanded by a growing number of Israelis and the international community.
Neither the Arab countries nor the Europeans have the capacity to stop the tragedy in Gaza.
Donald Trump is the only one with enough weight to influence Benjamin Netanyahu. Neither the Arab countries nor the Europeans have this capacity, even if it is obvious to many that they are doing too little, too late, to stop the tragedy in Gaza.
Reviving the two-state solution?
The backdrop to this appalling moment for the civilian population is the attempt to relaunch the two-state solution as a way out of this endless and limitless war. France and Saudi Arabia are co-chairing a conference in New York later this month, aimed at creating a regional framework and timetable for this political solution.
This idea is rejected in Israel, and not only by the ruling far-right coalition. The language of the government is unambiguous: Defense Minister Israel Katz declared that even if “Macron and his friends recognize a Palestinian state on paper, that paper will be thrown into the trash bin of history.” The current acceleration of settlements in the West Bank could prove him right.
Israel’s mad rush forward and Hamas’ obstinacy are at the expense of Gaza’s civilians.
Israel’s mad rush forward and Hamas’ obstinacy are at the expense of Gaza’s civilians, whose very existence is threatened, and of the chances of survival of the last 20 hostages believed to still be alive.
The continuation of this war is a terrible collective failure for the rest of the world, which is simply not doing what is necessary to stop it.
