Israel must receive sufficient US aid before entering Rafah

THE SCENE of an Israeli air strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday: Israel must continue the war until the goals are achieved, the writer asserts

Cairo is worried about the IDF’s intended entry into Rafah and the Philadelphi Corridor, fearing a wave of Gazan refugees breaking through the border into Egypt.

Nevertheless, despite firm messages being voiced in the world – and especially in the United States – Israel must continue the war on Hamas in Gaza until the goals are achieved, and this includes entering Rafah and the Philadelphi Corridor.

I asked Israeli MK Danny Danon (former deputy minister of Defense and former permanent representative to the United Nations) about the American threat to reduce its supply of weapons to Israel if its demand to avoid entering Rafah and to reduce the number of Gazan casualties were not met.

His surprising answer was: “If we cannot buy accurate weapons for our planes, we will have to use inaccurate weapons in the war in the Gaza Strip,” which will naturally lead to more casualties.”

Recently, the US announced the promotion of the deal to supply precision bombs to Israel.

A PROTESTER is removed during a US Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on President Biden’s supplemental funding request for Israel and Ukraine, in October. The Gaza war has implications for inter-power relations in various contexts such as the war in Ukraine, the writer notes. (credit: KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS)

A PROTESTER is removed during a US Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on President Biden’s supplemental funding request for Israel and Ukraine, in October. The Gaza war has implications for inter-power relations in various contexts such as the war in Ukraine, the writer notes. (credit: KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS)

Meanwhile, Sky News Arabia reported that it had a draft US proposal regarding the future of the Strip. It quoted the document as stating that concurrent with the end of the war, direct talks would begin between Israel and Arab countries in the region regarding the possibility of Palestinian Authority (PA) appointed technocrats taking over the administration of the Gaza Strip, removing Hamas, and disbanding any armed organization that opposes the two-state solution.

The proposal includes ties with Saudi Rabia and measures for regional security

The draft proposal also apparently states that Saudi Arabia and other countries will agree to establish diplomatic relations with Israel and to participate in the reconstruction of the Strip, provided there is a path to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The proposal also ostensibly states that all weapons, including the heavy weapons from the Strip that threaten Israel in the future, will be collected and destroyed and that Washington will work to bring in Arab and international forces to mediate between the Gaza Strip and the State of Israel.

Sources in the White House report that far-reaching proposals for regulating Israel’s position in the region will be submitted for the cabinet’s review in the near future.

ISRAEL IS demanding as preconditions the return of the hostages and the dismantling of all Hamas infrastructures, moving Hezbollah beyond the Litani river, and joint Israeli and Egyptian control over other factors in the Philadelphi Corridor.

At this stage, most Israeli politicians (regardless of their parties) do not want to hear or think about the subject of a Palestinian State. However, Israel is not ruling out Egypt’s demand for the exile of Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif to one of the Gulf countries as part of the overall agreement, but before any discussion at all, its priority is the return of all the hostages and commitments and guarantees from the US, Egypt, and other countries to comply with the agreement.

Saudi Arabia’s willingness to sign a peace agreement with Israel will form the basis for the other clauses that Israel will be willing to discuss. The US is putting heavy pressure on Saudi Arabia to agree in principle in order to move forward with the other sections.

The main problem is, of course, Iran, which is currently not ready to even consider the possibility of accepting Israel as a legitimate country in the region or of moving Hezbollah beyond the Litanyi River, as required by UN Resolution 1701.

Qatar, which will probably have a part in the talks, is under heavy American pressure to exercise its influence through the aid and financial support it gives to Hamas.

Any progress towards these goals still seems far away, but perhaps the fear that a war with Hezbollah could spill over into a regional war – the end of which no one could predict – will bring all the parties involved to the understanding that we are sitting on a gunpowder keg – and perhaps a solution to this bloody region will be found.

The writer is the CEO of Radios 100FM, honorary consul of Nauru, deputy dean of the consular corps, and vice president of the Ambassador Club in Israel.