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With pressure and criticism mounting at home, perhaps Blinken can get through to Netanyahu to get the pause started
More than 30 elected officials in Michigan pledge protest vote over Biden’s Gaza policy
The officials in the US state have pledged that they will cast an “uncommitted” vote in the upcoming primary election in protest of US President Joe Biden’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud is among those who have signed the letter stating that the signatories “unequivocally demand that the Biden administration immediately call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza”.
Anger at Biden’s firm support for Israel and perceived lack of empathy for the suffering of Palestinians has erupted among the large Arab and Muslim communities in Michigan, a crucial swing state that could play a role in deciding the outcome of the 2024 US presidential race. “We must hold our president accountable and ensure that we, the American taxpayers, are no longer forced to be accomplices in a genocide that is backed and funded by the United States government,” the letter reads.
Today, I’m joining 30+ of my elected colleagues from across SE Michigan in pledging to cast an “Uncommitted” vote in the upcoming presidential primary election. pic.twitter.com/ltmhihOF2A
— Abdullah H. Hammoud (@AHammoudMI) February 7, 2024
US Palestinian Congresswoman unapologetic after calling Netanyahu a ‘genocidal maniac’
US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American representative from the state of Michigan, has doubled down after calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “genocidal maniac” on the floor of Congress in a speech on Tuesday. “I said what I said,” Tlaib said in a social media post on Wednesday.
Tlaib, a member of a handful of progressive lawmakers known as “The Squad”, has reprised her role as one of the legislative body’s strongest defenders of Palestinian rights and firmest critics of Israel during the most recent war in Gaza.
I said what I said. https://t.co/jkjDAXfokp
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) February 7, 2024
In Gaza, a protracted war that can only end in phases: Analyst
The war in Gaza is expected to be a long conflict that cannot be resolved through an immediate ceasefire or a cessation of fighting, according to Ayman Yousef, professor of conflict resolution and international relations at the Arab American University.
“Rather, the parties will resort to a phased solution by releasing some Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and a ceasefire,” he told Al Jazeera. Yousef said that a Hamas-Israel agreement can be reached “because the situation is intolerable, there are some pressures on Israel, and America knows it could get involved in a confrontation with Iran”.
“Israel has failed to achieve its goals in the Gaza Strip, in addition to having an internal crisis of governance, being subject to international pressures, and having to deal with the ramifications of the International Court of Justice decision,” he added.
UN chief warns Israeli assault on Rafah would have ‘untold’ consequences
Sectretary-General Antonio Guterres says he is “especially alarmed” over reports that Israel is pledging an assault on Rafah, in the far south of the Gaza Strip near its border with Egypt, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians displaced by Israel’s campaign are hemmed in with nowhere to flee.
“Such an action would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences,” Guterres told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday. About 1.9 million people are sheltering in Rafah after being ordered there by Israeli forces, which previously described the area as a “safe zone”. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Tuesday that an Israeli assault could lead to “large-scale loss of civilian lives”.
With the ICJ expecting a report from Israel of what they are doing to implement the provisional measures, pushing on into Rafah would be the worst thing they could do. However rational thought is hard to find in the war cabinet :/
Israel official says some Hamas demands are unacceptable: Report
Israel’s Channel 13 cited a senior official as saying some of the demands presented by Hamas are not acceptable. No further details were provided. Israel previously said it will not pull its troops out of Gaza until Hamas is wiped out. The report quoted the unidentified official as saying Israeli authorities would debate whether to reject Hamas’s proposals outright or ask for alternative conditions.
Israeli PM Netanyahu faces ‘dire political reality’
The fact of the matter is Benjamin Netanyahu is under a lot of pressure, not just from the US but also from the political spectrum here in Israel. Far-right ministers in his coalition have openly said on numerous occasions they would walk away and collapse the government if Israel entered into a ceasefire deal with Hamas that they see as disadvantageous. They also don’t want to see Israel withdraw its forces from Gaza.
Netanyahu is also under pressure from the opposition, which is calling on him to resign. Many members of society here don’t trust his leadership anymore, especially relatives of captives still held in Gaza. Some analysts say he’s in a politically untenable situation – that it is a dire political reality for him right now. But it’s one that he’s going to have to navigate at such a critical time.
Netanyahu is done either way, which makes him so dangerous now. No exit strategy, keep the war going to stay in power...
Palestinians ‘desperate for a halt to this madness’
A 14-year-old girl was out in Khan Younis trying to get water when she was shot by a sniper. This is definitely not the first time, and people here are certain it’s not going to be the last. She was left in the street bleeding until she passed away. It is another example of how unsafe the situation is in the southern city. There are Israeli attack drones, intense bombing and snipers on the rooftops.
Hours before this murder, a 40-year-old woman was also shot and killed by a sniper just metres away from the main gate of Nasser Hospital. She was trying to get food and water for her wounded son inside. People here want an immediate end to all acts of war. They’re exhausted and desperate for a halt to this madness that has killed tens of thousands of people.
Israeli snipers have taken up positions in buildings throughout Khan Younis
Disease spreads as conditions deteriorate in Gaza camps
Video taken in Gaza’s displacement camps paints a grim picture of conditions there. Sewage flows between tents, and garbage piles up at a school where thousands of people are now forced live. Majd al-Wahidi, a child displaced from northern Gaza, recently contracted hepatitis. He lives with 40 family members in a cramped space.
“How can I isolate Majd from the 40 relatives who have been displaced with us when shelter space is extremely limited?” his mother, Ruba Abu al-Khair, asked. “I am trying my best to provide sanitation supplies to protect my family, but my options are limited. And the smoke from burning garbage for heating will cause future disease.”
