Venu Menon
Wellington, May 8, 2024
New Zealand has urged the combatants on both sides to agree to an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
“The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen. Both sides have a responsibility to put an end to the conflict,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said on May 7.
He made it clear an Israeli military incursion into Rafah “would be utterly unacceptable.”
Peters’ call for an extended ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas came amidst a quickly escalating crisis in the Middle East as Israel claimed operational control of the border crossing in Rafah linking Gaza to Egypt, blocking off the entry of humanitarian aid to the embattled enclave.
Ambiguity surrounded an announcement by Hamas on May 7 that it had accepted a ceasefire proposal brokered by Qatar and Egypt, with Israel baulking at the terms of the proposal but agreeing to negotiate.
The terms called for a phased troop withdrawal by Israel from Gaza in return for the release of the hostages held by Hamas, according to the BBC.
But analysts are sceptical about Hamas agreeing to any peace deal that involves the release of hostages unless it comes with guarantees of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
That would put Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at odds with the hawks in his government’s war cabinet who are pressuring him to launch a full-scale ground invasion of Rafah as a prelude to dismantling Hamas’ military capabilities.
But buckling to domestic political pressure will put Netanyahu on a collision course with the US, where the Biden Administration is staunchly opposed to a military operation in Rafah, which provides sanctuary to over a million Palestinian civilians.
An assault on Rafah is also hugely unpopular with the families of the hostages in Hamas’ custody who are currently protesting on the streets of Tel Aviv in Israel. The Rafah offensive will inevitably put the lives of the hostages at risk.
Hamas’ acceptance of the peace proposal is clearly a tactical manoeuvre aimed at capitalising on the mounting internal pressure on Israeli Premier Netanyahu from the protestors. It is also a means of leveraging the Americans to force Netanyahu to abandon his threatened incursion into Rafah.
But despite the lack of clarity around the terms of the deal, Palestinians broke into cheers on the streets of Rafah on hearing news of its acceptance by Hamas.
Meanwhile, aid agencies have warned that an Israeli offensive in Rafah will worsen the humanitarian crisis Gazans face and cause a spike in the civilian death toll that stands at 34,000, as per Hamas-run health ministry estimates.
Palestinians living in tent camps have been ordered by Israel to move to another camp on the coast in advance of an imminent invasion, plunging the 1.3 million displaced civilians sheltering in Rafah into further disarray and panic.
Israel regards Rafah as the last significant Hamas bastion in Gaza and believes an assault on Rafah is integral to permanently neutralising the military threat it poses to the Jewish state.
Venu Menon is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Wellington
