After a 4-day trip to the Middle East in a desperate attempt to broker a Ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, Antony Blinken has come up empty.
Once again, like many times in the past, in a curious irony of events, the side that’s stronger wants peace. The weaker, and more vulnerable side demurs. It’s hard to understand.
Does Hamas really care about women and children dying everyday? Over the last night alone, 50 people were killed by Israeli bombs. These are 50 deaths that could have been avoided if they had reached an agreement on Monday.
The Hamas hesitance to make a deal can be put in context in the larger picture of Middle East politics. In 2000, Bill Clinton brokered a 2-State Solution between Israel and Palestine, that gave Palestinians East Jerusalem as their capital, but Arafat rejected the deal because he did not get everything that he wanted. Arafat also expressed fear that Hamas would kill him as a traitor. He missed an opportunity to build his country.
Today, a 2-State solution is not even in consideration. That’s how far down the River the region has gone in 24 years since that great opportunity was allowed to slip away.
It may be a reasonable guess that Hamas is refusing a ceasefire deal because they are more interested in a wider conflict. They want Hezbollah and Iran to attack Israel in retaliation for the Hezbollah leader and Hamas’ leader’s assassination.
To put things further in context, Hamas attacked on October 7th, analysts believe, because Saudi Arabia was about to sign a Peace Treaty with Israel. Hamas had to throw a wrench into the negotiations to scuttle everything.
They have, temporarily.
Saudi Arabia wants to host the World Cup. The Crown Prince wants to modernize his country. He wants to make his country a bigger tourist destination than Dubai. He is jealous of their success. This jealousy is a good thing. It is propelling him towards making his country better.
Political observers are at a loss as they wonder what, if any benefit Hamas stands to gain if a wider regional conflict were to break out. If the past is a great predictor of the future, Israel might just take more territory and we would be having a different kind of conversation in 2050. This present conversation has been ongoing for 76 years with unreasonable expectations largely on the Palestinian side.
In which world do you want to exist and deny another group of people their own right to exist?
John Ehigie.
Senior Correspondent,
Egogonewshub.com
