Mouin Rabbani
Well, let me give a little background on this. So, the Hamas attacks into southern Israel took place on October 7, 2023. Israel immediately commenced with its genocidal military campaign in the Gaza Strip. And there was no real pressure for any kind of cease-fire or suspension of hostilities during that initial period. There was, however, growing pressure not only from within Israeli society but also from foreign countries who had citizens among the captives in the Gaza Strip to reach some kind of agreement. And in November 2023, a temporary suspension of hostilities was reached. Quite a large number of captives, both Israeli and Palestinian, were released. And then on December 1, 2023, Israel unilaterally made the decision to resume full-scale hostilities because it refused to continue negotiating.
Between then and January of this year, the Biden administration placed zero pressure of any kind on Israel to reach a new agreement. For example, in May of last year, [Joe] Biden publicly announced a cease-fire proposal and claimed that it had essentially been authored by the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
And in early July 2024, Hamas formally accepted it. Then, Israel introduced new conditions into that agreement, which Hamas did not accept. And in response, Biden, [former secretary of state Antony] Blinken, and the rest of them got up and said, well, the problem is Israel has accepted the terms of the cease-fire, but Hamas hasn’t. So, this idea that Israel was willing to reach a deal but Hamas wasn’t is, we now know, and in fact have known all along, the exact opposite of reality since late 2023.
This idea that Israel was willing to reach a deal but Hamas wasn’t is, we now know, the exact opposite of reality since late 2023.
This farce continued until January of this year when, before [Donald] Trump entered office, his…
Auteur: Mouin Rabbani
