(Corrects keywords used by media clients)
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Alexander Cornwell
CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli tanks thrust closer to the heart of Gaza City on Monday in the hours before Donald Trump was due to host Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, where the U.S. president has promised “SOMETHING SPECIAL” in his latest bid to end the war.
After nearly two years of failed diplomacy, Washington presented a 21-point plan to Arab and Muslim states last week that calls for a permanent ceasefire and the release of remaining hostages. Trump said he believed a deal was close.
“We have a real chance for GREATNESS IN THE MIDDLE EAST,” he wrote on social media on Sunday. “ALL ARE ON BOARD FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL, FIRST TIME EVER. WE WILL GET IT DONE!!!”
Though Netanyahu praises Trump as Israel’s closest ally, there are signs of Israeli scepticism over the proposal, as well as some reservations among Arab states.
ISRAELI, ARAB CONCERNS
Two foreign diplomats in the Middle East said Trump’s 21-point plan was less a detailed blueprint and more a set of broad objectives. Israel had objected to several elements and was seeking revisions in its discussions with the White House, they said, adding that Arab states were also seeking some amendments.
However, the diplomats said Arab states had largely backed the plan and were now waiting to see whether there would be significant changes following Trump’s meeting with Netanyahu.
Another source, familiar with the discussions, said Israeli officials had raised concerns with Washington over issues including the proposed involvement of Palestinian security forces in Gaza after the war, expelling Hamas officials from the enclave and assigning overall security responsibility.
Sources in Egypt, which has acted as a mediator in ceasefire talks, said Cairo was concerned that the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority should not be sidelined from administering Gaza, and about guarantees that Israel would abide by any agreement’s terms once hostages were freed.
Meanwhile, there was no let-up on the ground, where Israel has launched one of its biggest offensives of the war this month, an all-out assault on Gaza City, where Netanyahu says he aims to wipe out Hamas in its final redoubts.
Huda, a woman sheltering in Deir Al Balah south of Gaza City with two children, said by phone she was worried Trump’s latest peace plan was “going to be another disappointment. Trump has made promises in the past that all turned out to be fiction.”
Abu Abdallah, sheltering with nearly two dozen family members in tents along the Gaza City coast, said the family was waiting until after the White House meeting before deciding whether to flee south.
“It is either peace or Gaza City would be wiped out, just like Rafah was,” he said, referring to a southern city that Israel completely flattened earlier in the war.
ISRAEL SAYS OFFENSIVE WILL ERADICATE HAMAS
The assault on Gaza City has worsened a dire humanitarian crisis that has increased Israel’s international isolation. Several Western countries including Britain and France have recognised Palestinian independence, defying Israeli objections.
Israeli tanks advanced on Monday to within a few hundred metres from Gaza City’s main Al Shifa Hospital, where doctors say hundreds of patients were still being treated despite Israeli orders to leave.
Health officials said tanks had also surrounded the area around nearby Al Helo Hospital, housing 90 patients including 12 babies in incubators. Medics said it was shelled overnight.
Israel has said it will not halt fighting unless Hamas frees all hostages and permanently surrenders its weapons.
Hamas says it is willing to free its hostages in return for an end to the war, but will not give up its arms as long as Palestinians are still fighting for a state. It has said it has yet to be shown any new U.S. peace proposal.
Hamas-led fighters precipitated the war nearly two years ago, killing around 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages in an attack on Israel, according to Israeli tallies. More than 66,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Israel’s assault, according to Gaza health authorities.
PREVIOUS CEASEFIRE EFFORTS FELL APART
In Israel’s latest offensive, troops have flattened Gaza City neighbourhoods, dynamiting buildings which they said were used by Hamas. Hundreds of thousands of residents have fled, though many say there is nowhere to go. Israel has told them to head south, where other cities have already been razed.
The military said in a Monday statement it was continuing to target militant groups. Medics said the military had killed at least 18 people across Gaza on Monday, most of them in Gaza City.
Previous ceasefire efforts backed by the U.S. have fallen apart due to a failure to bridge the gaps between Israel and Hamas.
Netanyahu’s far-right allies in the Israeli government want the war to continue until Hamas has been defeated. But the Gaza City offensive is also a source of domestic political tension, with families of hostages saying it is time to seek a peace deal to bring their loved ones home.
The Hostages Families Forum, representing many relatives of those held captive in Gaza, sent a letter to Trump ahead of his meeting with Netanyahu, urging him not to let anyone sabotage the deal he is putting forward to end the war.
“The stakes are too high, and our families have waited too long for any interference to derail this progress,” they wrote.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo, Alexander Cornwell in Jerusalem; Editing by Peter Graff, Michael Georgy and Alex Richardson)
Comments