Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu recently said that Tel Aviv would not conquer, occupy or govern Gaza, but take responsibility for the security of the Gaza Strip in the future. However, US Secretary of State Antony John Blinken has made it clear that Israel should not continue to occupy Gaza after the end of the ongoing war (between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas Movement). According to the Secretary of State, the Joe Biden Administration wants the Palestinian Authority (PA) to simultaneously rule Gaza and the West Bank.

The US is talking to the leadership of the Arab World, as well as Israel, about the possibility of overthrowing the regime of Hamas Movement from Gaza. Blinken has stressed that it will take some time to make the necessary changes after the end of the armed conflict. He reportedly said: “The US believes key elements should include: No forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, not now, not after the war; No use of Gaza as a platform for terrorism or other violent attacks; No reoccupation of Gaza after the conflict ends.“

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Tokyo in the second week of November 2023, the senior US official stated that there must be “affirmative elements to get to a sustained peace”. He told reporters: “These must include the Palestinian people’s voices and aspirations at the centre of post-crisis governance in Gaza. It must include Palestinian-led governance and Gaza unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority.” He mentioned that other conditions included no “attempt to blockade or besiege Gaza” or any “reduction in the territory of Gaza“.

The Israel-Hamas conflict gained utmost importance in the meeting of Foreign Ministers of the G7 Group, too. According to experts, the US, being a friend of Israel, is under tremendous pressure from various countries, especially the Arab world, over its atrocities in Gaza. Chiefs of the CIA and Mossad recently met in Qatar to discuss the release of Israeli hostages from Hamas. Apart from the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, too, is under Israeli attacks. At least 10 Palestinians were killed in Israeli bombardment on Jenin, al-Fawwar and Qalandiya refugee camps in the West Bank on November 3. Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of Hamas have released a video of Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) fighting them on the streets of Gaza. The IDF, too, have claimed that they destroyed at least 150 tunnels made by Hamas in Gaza.

António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres, the Secretary General of the UN, has stressed: “There are violations by Hamas when they have human shields. But when one looks at the number of civilians that were killed with the military operations, there is something that is clearly wrong.” He added: “It is also important to make Israel understand that it is against the interests of Israel to see every day the terrible image of the dramatic humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people. That does not help Israel in relation to the global public opinion.“

However, the Netanyahu Government is trying hard to showcase its humane face. Families of Israeli soldiers or young civilians who have perished in the war are being allowed to collect their sperm before the funeral. All rules and regulations regarding this have been suspended for now. The local media reported that the sperm of 33 deceased Israeli youths has been collected in the last one month.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das