U.S. President Joe Biden has made the declaration of a plan for a truce and ceasefire in Gaza, which was drafted by the United States of America and Israel and conveyed to Hamas, without first getting approval from Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
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What is the Move by the U.S.?
Though an uncommon move by the U.S., the officials have stated that the decision to declare it unilaterally was very much intentional and was supposed to reduce the space for either of the parties, Israel or Hamas, to withdraw from the agreement.
An anonymous senior official from the States says that they didn’t ask for permission to announce the proposal in reference to the truce. According to him, the Israelis knew that a statement regarding the state of affairs in Gaza would be given by the U.S. officials but they didn’t know, in specific, what it would be about. This crisis, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives, has reached almost resolution multiple times by mediators from the United States of America, Egypt and Qatar but a complete agreement has proven elusive. \
What is the Plan Proposed by Biden?
The plan calls for an initial six-week ceasefire, a complete Israeli military pullout from populous parts of Gaza and the release of some hostages. They intend to expand on an agreement that Hamas already agreed to earlier this year by maintaining a ceasefire while talks go, on to eventually achieve a permanent end to hostilities which is a desire that Hamas has long held.
According to experts, the way Biden presented the plan as a compromise that Israel itself had offered was designed to incite optimism for a ceasefire and place extra pressure on Netanyahu. An assistant professor of history and public affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, Jeremi Suri, states that Biden is trying to box Netanyahu into accepting the proposal. When asked about the same, an Israeli source said that Israel could destroy Hamas and its ability to rule and that it was absurd to think that applying pressure would make Israel act against its national interests.
Difficulties with the Deal
Though the proposal of the deal has been a ray of hope, the chances of its success are uncertain. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan informed reporters that the negotiators were still waiting for a response from Hamas. Moreover, even though Netanyahu’s foreign policy advisor, Ophir Falk, stated shortly after Biden’t announcement that the Israeli leader had approved the proposal, the Leader later made remarks in public that cast reasonable doubt on whether he was fully in it or not. Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right minister, even threatened to ‘disrupt’ the ruling coalition unless Netanyahu revealed the specifics of the potential Gaza agreement.
Biden is now under tremendous pressure to end the fighting in Gaza. Due to his backing of Israel’s attack, his Democratic party is at a crossroads, and many in crucial split states have threatened to abstain from voting for him when he eventually faces off against the Republicans in November.
