Brutal Gaza War - Entering the 5thMonths

 

Diplomacy grinds on as Israel's brutal Gaza war enters 5th month.

A Palestinia girl walking across the rubbles in Gaza.

There is little talk of grand diplomatic bargains in Gaza, where Palestinians yearn for an end to fighting that has upended every aspect of their lives.

Diplomatic efforts for a Gaza cease-fire agonizingly ground on Wednesday amid reports of negotiations, proposals and counterproposals, none of which, however, has stemmed Palestinian deaths as Israel's war entered its fifth month.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli leaders after Hamas put forward a detailed plan for a new cease-fire and hostage release deal, but both sides remain dug in on thus far elusive goals.

Hamas laid out a three-phase plan to unfold over 4 1/2 months, responding to a proposal drawn up by the United States, Israel, Qatar and Egypt. All hostages would be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, including senior leaders, and an end to the war.

The proposal would reportedly leave Hamas in power in Gaza and allow it to rebuild its military capabilities, a scenario that Israeli leaders have adamantly rejected. President Joe Biden said Hamas' demands are "a little over the top" but that negotiations will continue.

Israel's deadliest war on Palestinians conflict has killed over 27,500 Palestinians, leveled entire neighborhoods, driven the vast majority of Gaza's population from their homes, and pushed a quarter of the population to starvation. Iran-backed armed groups across the region have conducted attacks, mostly on U.S. and Israeli targets, in solidarity with the Palestinians, drawing reprisals as the risk of a wider conflict grows.

Israel remains deeply shaken by the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion, that killed 1,140 people, and saw the abduction of some 250, around half of whom remain in captivity in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, says the war will continue until "total victory" over Hamas and the return of all the remaining hostages.

Blinken, who is on his fifth visit to the region since the war broke out, is trying to advance the cease-fire talks while pushing for a larger postwar settlement in which Saudi Arabia would normalize relations with Israel in return for a "clear, credible, time-bound path to the establishment of a Palestinian state." He was meeting with Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials Wednesday.

But the increasingly unpopular Netanyahu is opposed to Palestinian statehood and his hawkish governing coalition could collapse if he is seen as making too many concessions.

Gazan children wait amid rubbles of buildings destroyed in Israeli attacks on Rafah, Gaza, Feb. 7, 2024. 

Yearning for end

There is little talk of grand diplomatic bargains in Gaza, where Palestinians yearn for an end to fighting that has upended every aspect of their lives.
"We pray to God that it stops," said Ghazi Abu Issa, who fled his home and sought shelter in the central town of Deir al-Balah. "There is no water, electricity, food or bathrooms." Those living in tents have been drenched by winter rains and flooding. "We have been humiliated," he said.
New mothers struggle to get baby formula and diapers, which can only be bought at vastly inflated prices if they can be found at all. Some have resorted to feeding solid food to babies younger than 6 months old despite the health risks it poses.
The Palestinian death toll from four months of war has reached 27,707, according to the Gazan Health Ministry. That includes 123 bodies brought to hospitals in just the last 24 hours, it said Wednesday. At least 11,000 wounded people need to be urgently evacuated from Gaza, it said.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures but says most of the dead have been women and children.
Israel has ordered Palestinians to evacuate areas that make up two-thirds of the tiny coastal territory. Most of the displaced are packed into the southern town of Rafah near the border with Egypt, where many are living in squalid tent camps and overflowing U.N.-run shelters.
Hamas has continued to put up stiff resistance across the territory, and its police force has returned to the streets in places where Israeli troops have pulled back. Hamas is still holding over 130 hostages, but around 30 of them are believed to be dead.
Hamas' response to the cease-fire proposal was published in Lebanon's Al-Akhbar newspaper, which is close to the powerful Hezbollah group. A Hamas official and two Egyptian officials confirmed its authenticity, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media on the sensitive negotiations.