The United States asks Benjamin Netanyahu to use the death of Yahya Sinwar to end the war in the Gaza Strip

During his visit to Israel the eleventh to the region of Middle East since the war began on October 7, 2023, Blinken stressed that that country has achieved most of the strategic objectives set in Gaza. “Now is the time to turn those successes into lasting strategic success,” he added.

“There are really two things left to do: bring the hostages home and end the war with an understanding of what will follow,” he continued.

Last week, Yahya Sinwar top leader of Hamas and one of the masterminds of the attack a year ago in Israel which left more than 1,200 dead, was killed by Israeli forces in Rafah south of Gaza.

Then, the United States stated that it was time to reactivate negotiations for a ceasefire, but so far no progress has been made.

Israel has said that the negotiations failed because there were unacceptable demands on the part of Sinwar. Hamas has stated that its demands for a lasting ceasefire, the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages have not changed. The Palestinian group maintains that there was no agreement because Israel wants to maintain a lasting military presence in some parts of Gaza.

on tuesday The blink met with the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials of that country.

In that quote, The blink indicated to Netanyahu that the death of Sinwar may open the way to a ceasefire in Gaza.

Netanyahu responded that the death of Sinwar “could have a positive effect on the return of the hostages.”

CNN highlighted that the Israeli summary of the meeting between Netanyahu and Blinken indicated that they discussed “the progress of the fighting in Gaza against terrorist organization Hamasand the supreme efforts that Israel is doing to bring all the hostages back home.” There was no mention of any push to quickly end the conflict in Gaza.

According to Times of Israel, at the meeting Blinken pressured Netanyahu to say publicly that he does not intend to lay siege to northern Gaza.

At the moment, Israel carries out an extensive operation in the north of Gazawhere it has drastically reduced the entry of humanitarian aid. Before the operation that began on October 4, some 400,000 people remained in the devastated region. According to the UN, more than 56,000 people have fled due to the new offensive.

The president’s administration Joe Biden sent Israel a letter warning that not allowing sufficient humanitarian aid into northern Gaza could result in halting the delivery of American offensive weapons to its ally. He gave him until mid-November.

The suspension of aid entering northern Gaza led to reports that Israel was implementing the so-called Generals’ Plan, a strategy designed by retired officers that aims to lay siege to northern Gaza so that Hamas or its militants surrender. die of hunger.

At least 770 Palestinians have died in northern Gaza, especially in the Jabalia refugee camp and its surroundings, since the beginning of the military siege, the Gaza Government, in the hands of Hamas, denounced on Wednesday.

Times of Israel said that Netanyahu assured The blink privately that Israel is not implementing a plan to isolate northern Gaza, but refused to say so publicly.

Are we close to the end of the war?

Carlos Novoajournalist specialized in issues of Middle Eastbelieve that we are far from an agreement to end the war, “because the only way this could be stopped would be with a negotiation, with a ceasefire, with an understanding between both parties, in some way, something that is not going to happen because it has already been clear that the Israeli Government’s strategy “It is to crush Hamas by any means.”

“Israel has militarily decimated Hamas, but the big problem has to do with the fact that Hamas is mixed among the population of Gaza, which is more than two million people. So that won’t be possible, because this war will not end, this will take a while. What there may be are agreements, or the worst that can happen is that the world no longer cares about what is happening on the strip,” he added.

In Israelthis week the far-right ministers Ben Gvir y Bezalel Smotrich have reiterated that settlements must return to Gazasince they consider that without settlements there will be no security for their country.

On this point, Novoa opined that this would be ideal for the quite radical group that is part of Netanyahu’s coalition, but Gaza is not the West Bank.

“Ariel Sharon, who has been a tough guy in the history of Israeli politics, ordered the evacuation of about 20 settlements that were inside Gaza, a very small territory compared to the West Bank, very narrow. So, Jewish settlements inside Gaza would mean total control within the strip itself. “I don’t see it as viable because of all the tunnel infrastructure and all the destruction that exists within the strip at this time,” Novoa said.

“I don’t see it as feasible, but Israel can do it, although this would be the end of the people who live there. If in the West Bank, which is a much larger territory, look at how the Palestinian residents are doing. Every Israeli Jewish settlement in the strip would have to be surrounded by armed forces, infrastructure, it would be total chaos,” he said.

Novoa said the only way for this to happen would be for Israel to take full control of the strip, inside and outside.

The international analyst Enrique Banus, director of the Institute of European Studies of the University of Piura, told The Commerce that immediately after learning the news of the death of Sinwarso much Biden as the democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris they called Israel to seek an agreement to end the war.

“Even within the military in Israel There is a certain desire to end the war now, but The problem is that Netanyahu depends on his far-right partnersand they don’t want to end the war at all,” Banús said.

“In Israel there are also voices that say let’s do it by negotiating, even the president Isaac Herzog He has said something that can be interpreted along those lines, because he spoke of bringing the hostages by any means, so this would also imply negotiation. But Netanyahu has not shown even a hint of going in that direction, so I don’t think we are close to the end of the war,” he remarked.

Regarding the possibility of there being Israeli settlements in Gaza, Banús indicated that the radical ministers They are in a maximalist stancebut he doesn’t think it will happen.

“The important thing is to find a government formula in Gaza that excludes the radicals, that is not easy, but Israel It is not working. There has to be an alternative. If there is not, we will return to the same thing and Israel will have a threat to its security. However, I don’t think that returning to the settlements is the solution, neither from a political nor a security point of view.”Banús pointed out.