Israel’s political turmoil bogs down US push for ceasefire
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to arrive in the Middle East on Monday in an effort to salvage cease-fire negotiations, as leaders from Hamas and Israel express skepticism toward President Biden’s peace plans. Blinken’s trip—which includes stops in Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Qatar—comes at a sensitive time after eight months of fighting.
On Saturday, an Israeli military operation in central Gaza to rescue four hostages resulted in scores of Palestinian casualties. Strikes continued Monday in crowded areas of the Gaza Strip, days after Israel attacked a U.N. school-turned-shelter where thousands were staying and where Israel says some Hamas operatives were hiding.
Over the weekend, Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz, a centrist rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, quit the war cabinet over what he said was a lack of long-term strategy in the war. The move could force early elections, but it also gives far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition—who have threatened to leave the government if Israel accepts a deal that halts the war—more sway in the shrinking majority Netanyahu holds in government. “Gantz leaving and the increased influence from the far-right makes striking a cease-fire deal a lot less likely," said Yossi Mekelberg, a Middle East analyst at London-based think tank Chatham House.
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