Venu Menon
Wellington, March 25,2024
Israel’s imminent push into the Palestinian city of Rafah in the Gaza strip, stalled temporarily to evacuate the civilian population to safe zones and to allow humanitarian aid, has strained relations with its key ally, the US.
On a recent peace mission to the Middle East, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a bid to deter him from going ahead with the Rafah offensive in view of “the risk to civilians.” But the Israeli premier has vowed to “do it alone” if Washington opposed the move.
Meanwhile, the death of 19 civilians in Israeli tank and artillery fire as they waited for aid in Gaza on March 24, taking the civilian death toll to over 32,000 since the outbreak of hostilities in October, has caused outrage in the international community.
As in previous instances, the Israel Defence Force (IDF) has denied responsibility for the deaths.
The presence of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the main border crossing point into Gaza from Egypt last week had already put Israel at odds with the world community.
The UN chief spoke of “the heartbreak and heartlessness of it all.” He described “a long line of blocked, red relief trucks on one side of the gates, the long shadow of starvation on the other.”
“That is more than tragic,” Guterres said, adding: “It is a moral outrage.”
Guterres’s visit came close on the heels of a UN-backed report that claimed half of Gaza’s population of 2.2 million people faced “catastrophic levels of hunger.”
Rejecting the criticism, the Israeli government blamed the UN for failing to distribute aid inside Gaza.
The action shifted to the UN Security Council on March 22 when Russia and China vetoed a US resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, extending the five-month deadlock in the international body since hostilities broke out in the Middle East in October.
The US described the veto as “petty,” but Russia and China said they opposed the US resolution because it would not end the war.
Meanwhile, negotiations underway in Qatar for a ceasefire linked to the release of hostages held by Hamas are also deadlocked.
Al Shifa hospital, the sole functioning medical installation in Gaza city, remains a hotspot for continued clashes between the Israeli army and those it identifies as Hamas militants holed up inside the compound.
The Gaza crisis appears at this stage to be driven by the domestic political agenda of Israel and the US, taking the two allies on divergent pathways.
It is worth noting that Washington, which has consistently stayed away from using the term “ceasefire” at the UN, had for the first time incorporated that word in the text of its resolution recently tabled by it at the Security Council.
Its inclusion in the resolution pointed to the new imperatives thrown up by the impending US election and President Biden’s need to assuage Arab-American sentiments at home as well as the broader movement in support of a ceasefire in Gaza in the face of mounting civilian casualties.
Netanyahu is under pressure from the hawks in the Israeli political establishment who are holding him to his pledge to free the 240-odd hostages held by Hamas as well as dismantle its military capability permanently.
The Israeli prime minister, who has the reputation of being a perennial survivor, is perceived to be playing to a gameplan of scapegoating Washington should the Rafah ground offensive be scuttled.
Alternatively, US President Joe Biden faces the prospect of bearing the odium of a civilian bloodbath should the Rafah offensive proceed as planned.
Venu Menon is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Wellington
