Two analysts called for not exaggerating the interpretation of US President Joe Biden’s threat to stop arms supplies to Israel due to the Rafah invasion in the southern Gaza Strip, and considered that the dispute between Washington and Tel Aviv is “family.”
According to thinker and journalist Fahmi Huwaidi, Washington is still a partner in the killing of Palestinians and fully stands with Israel, stressing the importance of not exaggerating what he called “Biden’s reproach or escalating the tone of Israeli statements against the United States.”
Huwaidi believes – during his talk on the program “Gaza… What Next?” – that the dispute between Washington and Tel Aviv is part of it to put pressure on the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) – to insinuate and suggest that Israel is angry and may escalate.
He adds that Biden is for “killing, but within certain limits and not on a large scale,” pointing out that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not want an agreement, but rather a failure of the negotiations to gain more time and continue the war.
He goes on to explain that Netanyahu is betting on military action to achieve the results he sought, but at the same time he is subject to internal and external popular pressure.
Huwaidi believes that the ceasefire negotiations are stalled due to Israel’s refusal and its request to prepare a new paper, “which means a new time frame and a return to square one, which Hamas rejects.”
The journalist also points out that the agreement carried vague wording such as “sustainable truce,” with the aim of failing negotiations or pressuring Hamas to concede the issue of prisoner exchange, such as releasing soldiers and not just civilians.
He stressed that Hamas cannot retreat a step, and there is support for its steadfastness in its position of ending the war, the return of the displaced, and linking the stages of the agreement, after the Palestinians suffered many losses.
A formal and symbolic disagreement
In turn, Hassan Mneimneh, a researcher at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said that the relationship between Israel and the United States is strong and based on war goals, such as recovering prisoners, eliminating Hamas, and ensuring that the Gaza Strip does not pose a threat to Israel, but there is a difference in the order of priorities.
Although Mneimneh acknowledged that America’s suspension of some arms shipments to Israel is an advanced position, it remains formal and symbolic, especially with Americans’ continued support for Israel, according to opinion polls.
He pointed out the evasion that Biden is adopting, such as his adoption of the Israeli narrative, such as saying that Hamas is hostile to the Jews, not out of occupation, and then saying on another day that he does not want the war to expand in Rafah.
He believes that Biden agrees with Israel on the necessity of the war ending with a victor and a loser, and that the agreement being discussed must include this formula even though Israel did not achieve the goals of the war and failed on the ground.
He added that Israel wants to receive its prisoners and then continue killing the Palestinians after removing the burden of this file, while Hamas wants to stop the war and then hand over the prisoners, stressing that these are two positions that “cannot be reconciled.”
It is believed that the goal of the negotiations “is to promote a vague formula that Hamas can understand that leads to a permanent ceasefire, while Washington and Tel Aviv insist that it leads to a temporary ceasefire.”
He concluded that Washington still places Israel’s security as a priority, stressing that the step to suspend some arms shipments does not affect the Netanyahu government and the invasion of Rafah because the ammunition is available and previously supplied to Israel.
