Source: Global Times
At a time when the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is prolonging, questions and criticisms within the US government about Israel's military action in Gaza are becoming louder and louder. Reuters reported on the 27th, citing internal documents from the U.S. State Department, that some senior U.S. officials reported to Secretary of State Blinken that although Israel has pledged to abide by international humanitarian law when using weapons provided by the United States, many U.S. departments have determined that Israel's assurances are "not credible or reliable." The New York Times quoted Johns Hopkins University scholar Lubenstein as saying that there is ample evidence that Israel's claims to protect civilians are not credible and that Israel has been severely restricting humanitarian aid into Gaza. According to the New Arab Daily, the feud between the United States and Israel has become increasingly prominent under the situation in which Israel is bent on going its own way, and this is also the main reason why many US officials believe that Israel is suspected of committing war crimes. According to Israeli media broke the news on the 28th, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was worried that the International Criminal Court would soon issue arrest warrants for a number of Israeli officials, including him, so he turned to US President Joe Biden for help. There are also analysts who believe that under the pressure of external public opinion, the Israeli government's stance on the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip has "softened," and the prospects for peace talks between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) have "dawned."
On the 27th local time, U.S. President Joe Biden delivered a speech at the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents' Association held at the Hilton Hotel in Washington. (AFP)
There is a "wrestling" within the US State Department
Reuters reported that the U.S. State Department's four departments responsible for "democracy, human rights and labor," "population, refugees and migration," "global criminal justice," and "international organizations" jointly submitted a submission expressing "grave concern" over Israel's alleged non-compliance with international humanitarian law in Gaza. The assessment of the four ministries stated that Israel's assurances were "neither credible nor reliable". The report cites eight examples of Israeli military operations that, according to U.S. officials, raise "serious questions" that could violate international humanitarian law. These include repeated attacks on protected sites and civilian infrastructure, disproportionate civilian harm caused when targeting military objectives, little action to investigate violations or hold accountable those responsible for causing significant civilian harm, and the killing of humanitarian workers and journalists at an unprecedented rate. The Department also cited 11 additional examples of Israeli military operations that "arbitrarily restricted humanitarian assistance and carried out numerous attacks on humanitarian sites that should not have been attacked".
USAID also provided input to the assessment, in which the agency official wrote: "Nearly 32,000 people have been killed, and the Israeli government itself estimates that about two-thirds of them are civilians, which is likely to violate the requirements of international humanitarian law." However, another document from the U.S. State Department's "Political and Military" Affairs Division warned Blinken that the suspension of U.S. weapons supplies would limit Israel's ability to respond to potential threats beyond its airspace, Reuters said, and asked Washington to reassess "all ongoing and future arms sales to other countries in the region." The document makes no direct reference to Israel's assurances regarding respect for international humanitarian law. According to the report, this shows that there is a "wrestling" within the US State Department.
According to Biden's "National Security Memorandum" released in February, Blinken must inform Congress by May 8 whether he believes Israel believes these assurances are credible in response to assurances that Israel will not violate U.S. or international law when it uses U.S.-supplied weapons. Reuters said that if Israel's assurances to use U.S.-aided weapons are questioned, Biden can ask Israel to make new assurances or interrupt aid. As of March 24, at least seven departments of the U.S. State Department had submitted preliminary reporting documents to Blinken.
"As the death toll in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict continues to increase, there are different opinions within the Biden administration", Arab News Network said on the 28th that since the outbreak of the current round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, at least three officials of the US State Department have resigned because they oppose the Biden administration's policies on the Gaza conflict. Hala Larit, the most recent resignation of the U.S. State Department's Arabic spokesman, called on the U.S. to rely on diplomacy to achieve peace, not to send weapons.
Biden entered the dinner scene through the back door
Criticism of the Biden administration's stance on Gaza is growing louder and louder in the United States. According to a report by the Associated Press on the 27th, the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents' Association was held in a hotel in Washington on the same day, and hundreds of protesters held a rally outside the hotel to express their concerns about the new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and other issues, while condemning the US government's handling of the conflict and Western media coverage of the incident.
The Associated Press also said that Biden's motorcade chose a different route from the White House to the hotel where the dinner was held on the 27th, basically avoiding the crowds of demonstrators. According to Reuters, Biden entered the dinner site through the back door of the hotel, but when he arrived at the back door of the hotel, he was still "greeted" by a group of protesters who called for a ceasefire. According to Sky News, Biden delivered a speech that lasted 10 minutes at the dinner, but did not mention the Gaza crisis in the whole process.
At an anti-war protest rally held that day, demonstrators called on journalists to boycott the dinner and shouted slogans as U.S. government officials entered the hotel, the report said. According to the Associated Press, some protesters shouted "liberate Palestine" slogans, while others shouted "Shame on you" to people outside the hotel who were preparing to attend the dinner. Newsweek said that protesters hung a large Palestinian flag from the window of a hotel room. A small number of pro-Israel demonstrators showed up to confront the "Tim-Pakistan" demonstrators.
Kaled Elkindi, a senior fellow at the Institute of Middle East Studies in the United States, believes that military aid to Israel is still considered "sacred and inviolable" in Washington, but the fact that it was passed shows that there is a "major rift" between Democratic congressmen and grassroots voters, including those who are demonstrating across the country.
Since the outbreak of the current round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, whether the Israeli army has committed war crimes in Gaza has been one of the focuses of public opinion. The Times of Israel broke the news on the 28th that the International Criminal Court may issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Halevi in recent days. At the moment, Netanyahu is "constantly calling" Biden in the hope that the latter will intervene to stop it. According to the Israeli news website Walla, Netanyahu is "under unusual pressure" because the International Criminal Court will seriously worsen Israel's international standing if it issues arrest warrants for him and other senior Israeli officials. According to the report, neither the United States nor Israel is a party to the Rome Statute, but Palestine signed the Statute in 2015, so the ICC has the power to adjudicate issues related to Palestine.
Is there light at the end of the tunnel?
According to AFP, Israeli Foreign Minister Katz said on the 27th that if a ceasefire agreement is reached with Hamas, the Israeli army will suspend the launch of ground operations in Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip. According to Israeli media reports, the Egyptian delegation held talks with the Israeli side on the 26th, and the Israeli side has conveyed Israel's demand for a ceasefire agreement to Hamas through Egypt, and said that this is the "last chance" for the Israeli army to reach an agreement before launching a ground operation in Rafah. A senior Hamas official told AFP on the 28th that Khalil Haya, a senior member of Hamas, will lead a delegation to Egypt on the 29th and respond to the latest ceasefire proposal put forward by Israel.
According to the UAE's newspaper The Nation, Israel's ceasefire plan proposes a three-week ceasefire between the two sides, and Hamas must release 20 detained Israeli personnel. If the Israeli and Kazakh sides reach a consensus in the future, a ceasefire could be held for another 10 weeks, at which point a large-scale exchange of hostages and prisoners would be possible, and at least 300,000 Palestinians who had fled to southern Gaza would be allowed to return to their homes in the centre and north. The American news network Axios quoted two Israeli officials as saying that this is the first time in nearly seven months of conflict that an Israeli leader has expressed his willingness to discuss ending the war. However, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said at a meeting held in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on the 28th that he expects Israel to attack Rafah in the coming days, and "the greatest catastrophe in the history of the Palestinian people will occur."
"Is a breakthrough in the Gaza ceasefire talks imminent?" said the British "Guardian" on the 28th, the recent meeting of the Israeli cabinet seems to show a "more flexible" position. However, this may have something to do with the pressure exerted on Netanyahu's government by the families of Israeli detainees. According to the report, the topic in Israeli politics may have shifted from destroying the last Hamas stronghold in Rafah to cutting off the route of Hamas's arms smuggling from Egypt to see if the ultimate goal of removing it could be achieved. However, a senior Qatari official expressed cautious optimism in an interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, saying that every time Israel and Kazakhstan come close to reaching an agreement, the process could be undermined.