The US Delegates in the Middle East: Plenty of Talk but No Clear Answers on the Future of Gaza.
Thhese times showcase a very unusual occurrence: the inaugural US parade of the overseers. They vary in their qualifications and characteristics, but they all have the common mission – to prevent an Israeli breach, or even demolition, of Gaza’s fragile peace agreement. After the hostilities concluded, there have been few days without at least one of Donald Trump’s representatives on the scene. Just this past week saw the presence of a senior advisor, Steve Witkoff, JD Vance and a political figure – all arriving to perform their roles.
The Israeli government engages them fully. In only a few days it initiated a series of attacks in Gaza after the loss of two Israeli military soldiers – leading, according to reports, in many of Palestinian injuries. Multiple officials called for a restart of the conflict, and the Knesset approved a preliminary decision to incorporate the occupied territories. The American response was somewhere between “no” and “hell no.”
Yet in several ways, the US leadership appears more concentrated on maintaining the current, unstable stage of the peace than on progressing to the next: the reconstruction of Gaza. Concerning that, it looks the US may have aspirations but few concrete plans.
At present, it is unknown when the planned global governing body will effectively begin operating, and the same applies to the designated military contingent – or even the composition of its soldiers. On Tuesday, Vance declared the US would not dictate the membership of the foreign unit on Israel. But if the prime minister's government keeps to reject one alternative after another – as it did with the Ankara's offer this week – what follows? There is also the contrary question: who will decide whether the units preferred by the Israelis are even prepared in the task?
The question of the duration it will take to demilitarize Hamas is just as ambiguous. “The expectation in the leadership is that the multinational troops is intends to at this point assume responsibility in disarming the organization,” said the official recently. “It’s will require a while.” Trump further highlighted the ambiguity, saying in an conversation on Sunday that there is no “fixed” schedule for the group to lay down arms. So, in theory, the unidentified members of this not yet established global force could enter Gaza while Hamas militants still hold power. Are they dealing with a governing body or a militant faction? These represent only some of the concerns surfacing. Others might ask what the verdict will be for average Palestinians as things stand, with Hamas continuing to attack its own opponents and dissidents.
Current developments have yet again emphasized the blind spots of local media coverage on each side of the Gazan border. Every publication seeks to scrutinize every possible angle of the group's infractions of the ceasefire. And, typically, the fact that the organization has been delaying the return of the remains of slain Israeli captives has taken over the coverage.
By contrast, coverage of non-combatant fatalities in Gaza stemming from Israeli operations has obtained little attention – if at all. Take the Israeli retaliatory strikes in the wake of Sunday’s southern Gaza incident, in which two soldiers were killed. While Gaza’s authorities stated 44 deaths, Israeli media analysts complained about the “limited reaction,” which focused on solely facilities.
This is nothing new. Over the past weekend, Gaza’s media office accused Israel of infringing the peace with Hamas 47 times after the truce came into effect, killing dozens of individuals and injuring another many more. The claim appeared unimportant to most Israeli reporting – it was merely absent. Even accounts that eleven individuals of a local family were lost their lives by Israeli troops recently.
The rescue organization reported the family had been trying to return to their home in the Zeitoun district of Gaza City when the vehicle they were in was fired upon for allegedly crossing the “boundary” that defines territories under Israeli army authority. That yellow line is invisible to the human eye and appears just on charts and in government papers – often not accessible to average people in the area.
Yet this incident barely received a mention in Israeli news outlets. One source referred to it shortly on its online platform, referencing an Israeli military official who stated that after a suspicious transport was detected, forces fired alerting fire towards it, “but the car continued to approach the forces in a fashion that created an direct risk to them. The troops shot to remove the risk, in accordance with the agreement.” No fatalities were reported.
With such perspective, it is understandable a lot of Israeli citizens believe Hamas alone is to blame for violating the peace. This perception threatens fuelling appeals for a stronger strategy in Gaza.
Eventually – possibly in the near future – it will no longer be adequate for all the president’s men to play caretakers, instructing the Israeli government what to refrain from. They will {have to|need