By Shahrokh Saei
TEHRAN- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to hold talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Monday with the purported aim of facilitating a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as the Tel Aviv regime continues its deadly assault on the Palestinian territory.
The top American diplomat’s trip to the region comes after two days of talks over halting Israel’s genocidal war ended in the Qatari capital on Friday without a major breakthrough.
The talks were mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar. Senior officials from the three countries met with an Israeli negotiating team to hash out details for clinching a ceasefire deal.
The negotiations are expected to continue this week in Cairo.
Hamas did not attend the Doha talks, accusing Israel of adding new conditions to a proposal laid out by US President Joe Biden on May 31 that was later endorsed by the United Nations Security Council and welcomed by the resistance movement.
The potential deal would be carried out in three phases. It would lead to a ceasefire in Gaza as well as the release of Israeli and foreign captives held in the enclave in exchange for the release of Palestinian inmates from Israeli jails.
Israel’s new demands include continued Israeli presence on the Philadelphi Corridor separating Egypt’s Sinai from the Gaza Strip, and the establishment of checkpoints to monitor the movement of people from the south of the territory to the north. Netanyahu has been accused of hamstringing a ceasefire deal by introducing such new conditions.
While Israel’s negotiating delegation expressed “cautious optimism” on the possibility of advancing an agreement, American officials have cited fresh optimism to bring the deal over the finish line.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany and Italy threw their weight behind the ceasefire talks that began on Thursday, urging all sides to avoid any “escalatory action”.
But, in defiance of the call made by the four European countries, Israel continues its war of genocide on Gaza which has claimed the lives of about 40,100 Palestinians over the past 10 months.
At least 18 Palestinians from the same family were killed in an Israeli strike in the Gaza town of Zawayda on Saturday. An Israeli strike also killed six children in Deir-el Balah on Sunday. They were among dozens of Palestinians who were killed at the weekend.
Such continued attacks indicate that ongoing negotiations cannot stop Israel’s killing machine and that the regime uses talks to divert attention away from its atrocities against Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Hamas has dismissed optimism about reaching a deal to end the Israeli war on the coastal enclave.
“To say that we are getting close to a deal is an illusion,” Hamas political bureau member Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP.
He added, “We are not facing a deal or real negotiations, but rather the imposing of American diktats.”
Blinken’s visit to Israel marks his ninth trip to the region since the Netanyahu regime declared war on Gaza on October 7 last year.
During his previous trips, Israel has not only refused to end the Gaza war but it has also slaughtered more Palestinians and this time will not be different.
President Biden would just be one phone call away from ending the Gaza war if it wanted to do so. As a result, his administration’s growing calls for a peaceful resolution of the Gaza war and Blinken’s new regional visit have raised suspicions.
In fact, the US claims it has a strong desire to clinch a ceasefire deal in Gaza to cover up its complicity in Israel’s genocidal war in the territory.
Washington has provided unwavering military and political support for Israel since the start of the onslaught.
The latest trip of the top US diplomat also comes amid promises made by Iran and Hezbollah to launch retaliatory attacks against Israel.
Iran has vowed to retaliate against Israel for the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh. He was killed in an Israeli strike in the Iranian capital Tehran on July 31.
Hezbollah has also vowed to retaliate against Israel for the assassination of one of its senior commanders in Beirut in late July.
Presently, another goal regarding Blinken’s visit to the region is to make arrangements to salvage Israel in the face of an imminent attack by Iran and Hezbollah which could strike devastating blows to the regime.
The US hopes that a ceasefire deal in Gaza will dissuade Iran from attacking Israel. But Iranian officials have stressed that Israel must be punished for its heinous crime.
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