Prospects dim for truce as Israel rejects calls to spare Rafah

AFP | Paletine                                                        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Prospects for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire dimmed Sunday after the United States signalled it would veto the latest push for a UN Security Council resolution and mediator Qatar acknowledged that separate truce talks have hit an impasse.

Efforts to pause the over four-month-old war languish as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to reject international appeals to spare Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, where around 1.4 million people have sought refuge.

Even if a temporary truce deal is struck, Netanyahu said the ground invasion of Rafah will go ahead. Countries urging Israel otherwise are effectively saying “lose the war”, argued the prime minister, whose coalition includes religious and ultra-nationalist parties. Netanyahu spoke as thousands protested in Tel Aviv, the latest public call for an immediate election. They also accused the government of abandoning the hostages.

His assessment came as Hamas threatened to suspend its involvement in the talks unless relief supplies reach Gaza’s north, where aid agencies have warned of looming famine. “Negotiations cannot be held while hunger is ravaging the Palestinian people,” a senior source in the Palestinian militant group told AFP, asking not to be identified because he is not authorised to speak on the issue.