On Wednesday, United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced that the U.S. had submitted a draft resolution to the United Nations calling for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. The terms of the cease-fire reportedly make it conditional on the release of all hostages still held by Hamas.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday the U.S. has submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council that calls “for an immediate ceasefire” in Gaza that’s “tied to the release” of hostages held by Hamas.
Why it matters: Both Israel and Hamas are facing pressure to reach a deal to free the hostages and start a truce in Gaza, where over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, per Axios’ Barak Ravid, who noted this week that the first detailed negotiations in months were underway.
- Now Blinken has said in an interview with Al-Hadath in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, that an agreement was “getting closer” and “the gaps are narrowing,” according to a transcript released by the State Department Wednesday. “I think an agreement is very much possible,” he added.
It’s unclear to what extent Israel was consulted in drafting this resolution. As far as Hamas is concerned, it’s important to remember that they had a cease-fire in place that would have lasted indefinitely, but for their actions on October 7th, 2023.
The big picture: Blinken said during the interview that the Biden administration was “pressing for an immediate ceasefire” tied to freeing the hostages.
- The interviewer said to Blinken that “some may wonder how are you pressuring Israel to do so while you are still continuing supporting them financially and militarily, and even in the United Nations by vetoing any resolution that commits for an immediate ceasefire.”
- Blinken replied that the U.S. resolution before the Security Council “does call for an immediate ceasefire tied to the release of hostages, and we hope very much that countries will support that.”
Hamas doesn’t exactly have the best track record of adhering to agreements.
Despite the best intentions of the Western world, there remain a few serious questions here; namely, are there any assurances that many, if any, of these hostages are still alive? Hamas can’t be trusted to reliably report information.
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Yes, civilians in Gaza are suffering. They are suffering because of the actions of people in their own government. They are suffering because Hamas, who was initially elected by the people of Gaza to run their government, launched a brutal, unprovoked attack on Israeli civilians, which attack included atrocities on a horrendous scale as well as the largest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust. That is Hamas’s fault and no one else’s; the people of Gaza are suffering, not because of Israel, but because of Hamas. It’s unlikely that Israel will change course at this point, UN resolutions notwithstanding. The assessment seems to be that the best way to ensure that Hamas won’t attack Israel again is to destroy Hamas, and that’s supported by their actions to this point.
Civilians are going to suffer as the Israel Defense Forces continue to push on, to seek out and destroy Hamas. That happens in wars. But in this case, the only party to this conflict that can be relied upon to adhere to any agreement is Israel. That would seem to render the value of any agreement questionable at best.
