Israel, Hamas race to claim victory before Gaza truce
Analysis: Ynet s commentator Ron-Ben Yishai says IDF unlikely to send in ground forces unless terror group ruling Strip carries out a catastrophic attack while veteran military pundit believes both sides would like to end this and go home
Associated Press |
Published: 05.14.21 , 23:43
Israel and Hamas know that a fourth Gaza war, like the three before, would be as inconclusive as it is devastating for the impoverished territory s 2 million Palestinians. But in the days or weeks before an inevitable truce, each will aim for something it can call a victory.
For Israel, that might mean assassinating a top Hamas commander, or destroying enough tunnels, rocket launchers and other infrastructure to say it mowed the lawn a phrase widely used by Israelis to describe the temporary suppression of terrorist groups before the next confrontation.
May 14, 2021
The new Israeli-Palestinian flare-up, bursting out right in the midst of Turkey’s quest to mend ties with Israel and Arab rivals, has opened up space for Ankara to seek diplomatic influence in the region. But any gains it could make in the process are likely to be limited now that it has lost much of its leverage vis-a-vis Arab heavyweights and Israel.
The efficiency of Ankara’s diplomacy on the Palestinian question is open to argument, but the escalation in the Holy Land did help it break its diplomatic isolation to some extent.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has had a flurry of phone calls with regional leaders since the unrest erupted last week, urging “the world and Muslim nations in particular to take efficient action against Israel’s attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem and Palestinian homes.” Erdogan reasserted support for the Palestinians in calls with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. In a bid to mobilize internat
Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to hold onto power as prime minister.
It wasn’t looking good for Netanyahu before the conflict escalated, with two minority parties having agreed to form a coalition to oust Bibi. But on May 13, Yamina party Chair
Naftali Bennett, who had a nearly done deal with Yesh Atid party Chair
Yair Lapid, told Lapid the deal was off.
The collapse of the prospect for a so-called government of change, based on nothing more than a shared desire to defeat Bibi, is the direct outcome of violent clashes in mixed Jewish-Arab towns this week, writes
Lapid still has until June 2 to form a government before the process is turned over to the Knesset (parliament). If the parliament can’t decide, there will be a fifth election, which would take months and Bibi would remain prime minister in the interim.
their first elections in 15 years
.
Instead, they are watching as their leaders in the Gaza Strip wage a rocket and air strike war with Israel and their president in the West Bank appears powerless to
protect his people or stop the carnage.
As the situation descends into another bloody conflict, political analysts and western diplomats monitoring the region say that the blame lies with two players: an intransigent Israel after a nationalist far-right refused to co-operate with Israeli Palestinian politicians to form a government; and an ineffectual Palestinian leadership that has left its people frustrated and angry. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during an emergency meeting of the Fatah Central Committee and the PLO Executive Committee in the occupied West Bank City of Ramallah, on May 12, 2021. AFP
The latest violence between Israeli and Palestinian forces should come as no surprise. The issue of Palestinian statehood has been off the international agenda since US President Barack Obama effectively washed his hands of the issue. The Trump administration then focused on Israel’s relations with other Arab states at the expense of the Palestinians.
However, the tensions underlying the current violence have been building for some time and have the potential to become particularly serious.
In East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers have been trying to seize control of Palestinian homes in Sheikh Jarrah, a historic part of the city. They have resorted to the Israeli Supreme Court, which usually supports the government and settler line in matters relating to the occupied Palestinian territories. The court’s judgement was expected this week, but was deferred.