No breakthroughs were made in the ceasefire negotiations before Israel's ground operation in southern Gaza's Rafah on Tuesday, despite the growing pressure on Israel.
Several countries have demanded that Israel refrain from a ground attack on southern Gaza's Rafah area, where more than half of the region's population is packed. The UN and several non-governmental organizations have stated that a ground attack would have particularly devastating consequences for the civilian population in the area.
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet shown any sign of being ready to change his plans even under pressure.
Representatives of Israel, the United States, Egypt and Qatar met on Tuesday in Cairo in an effort to agree on a cease-fire in Gaza. There were no breakthroughs in the negotiations and the Israeli delegation left the negotiations late on Tuesday evening.
The negotiations are to continue for a total of three days, i.e. until Thursday, reports the Egyptian media al-Qahera.
The news agency AFP reported on Wednesday morning that representatives of the extremist organization Hamas were on their way to Cairo to negotiate with representatives of Qatar and Egypt. Also the president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expected in Cairo to discuss the Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi with.
Negotiations it had been hoped would lead to a six-week ceasefire before Israel's hostilities extended to Rafah.
“We hoped that an agreement could be reached in Cairo. Now we are counting the days until Israel sends tanks,” said a Gazan businessman who fled his home to Rafah Jaber news agency Reuters.
“We have lost our homes, our jobs. Isn't that enough?”
Researcher of the Finnish Middle East Institute Foundation Antti Tarvainen according to the criticism of Israel is still very “softly spoken”, when you think about the situation in Rafah.
“We still don't see that the Western countries will put a lot of effort into it. We still don't see the practical political actions that could force Israel to change its direction,” says Tarvainen.
By practical measures, he refers to diplomatic, economic and security policy sanctions.
Israelis demonstrated against the bombing of Rafah in Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu announced last week that he had ordered troops to prepare for an operation in Rafah in southern Gaza and asked for a plan to evacuate civilians from the area.
At the beginning of the war, Israel urged Gazans to evacuate to Rafah, which is why the population of the area has swelled to over a million.
Rafah is one of the last areas in Gaza where hospitals, water and sanitation facilities, and bakeries are still partially functional. Most of the humanitarian aid, on which many Gazans live, is also transported through the Rafah border crossing.
Israel has been conducting airstrikes in the region for a long time. An estimated 60-100 people died in Monday's airstrikes.
The news agency AFP reported on Tuesday that many civilians have already started packing their belongings in the tent villages of Rafah to flee again. The problem is that they no longer know where it is safe to run.
Cairo the negotiations sought not only to agree on a six-week ceasefire before the Israeli attack on Rafah, but also on the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, the protection of civilians and the release of hostages and prisoners.
US authorities described negotiations as “serious and generous”, but no agreement on a ceasefire was reached. According to sources, the negotiations were finally interrupted due to disagreements about the release of hostages and prisoners.
In exchange for the release of the hostages, Hamas representatives demand a lasting ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons, reports The New York Times. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, on the other hand, has said that Israel will not end its war in Gaza until the hostages are released and Hamas is destroyed.
Despite Israel's withdrawal from the negotiations, the Egyptian media described the negotiations as “mainly positive”. However, according to Egyptian and US official sources, an agreement between Israel and Hamas is not close yet.
In addition to Egyptian President al-Sisi, at least the heads of the US and Israeli intelligence services participated in the negotiations on Tuesday William Burns and David Barnea and the Prime Minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.
Investigator According to Antti Tarvainen, both the United States and the EU, as well as several Arab states, could influence Israel's actions, but no real actions to restrain Israel have been seen.
The United States is by far Israel's biggest supporter. President Joe Biden has tried to remain adamant that Israel would not launch a ground operation in Rafah without a proper plan to protect civilians.
According to Tarvainen, the United States does not yet have enough internal pressure to put pressure on Israel through political action.
The EU, on the other hand, is Israel's biggest trading partner, and could thus have a great influence on Israel.
However, Tarvainen does not believe that the EU countries are able or even want to form a united resistance to Israel's actions.
People were waiting for food aid in Rafah.
I need it according to Israel has tried since the 1990s to reduce its dependence on Western countries and to diversify its economy. This way, if necessary, it has the opportunity to pursue a very radical domestic policy without the fear that it will come under extensive pressure from the international community.
This has included efforts to normalize trade relations with countries such as India, China, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, explains Tarvainen.
According to Tarvainen, Israel's special lever, especially against authoritarian Arab states, has been its know-how in the field of security technology.
Among others, the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been very interested in this, who have to think about how to hold on to power in the economy after oil production and energy production, says Tarvainen.
He believes that this is one of the reasons why the Arab states, despite their harsh words, have been cautious in their policy actions towards Israel.
According to Tarvainen, the oil-producing countries could, for example, limit the export of oil to Israel's supporters, but they have not wanted to take this step.
According to Egyptian official sources, Egypt would instead be ready to withdraw from the Camp David agreement between Egypt and Israel if Israel sends its troops to Rafah and pushes the Gazans across the border into Sinai.
Egypt's foreign minister denied the claim on Tuesday and said Egypt was still committed to the deal.
According to Tarvainen, Egypt's withdrawal from the agreement would be such a radical political act that it would certainly force Israel to change its war strategy.
Also China expressed concern over the situation in Rafah and demanded that Israel end its military operations in the area as soon as possible.
Tarvainen finds China's demand interesting because the trade policy relations between China and Israel have become closer during the last decade.
He believes that if China's pressure on Israel increases, it could also have an impact on Saudi Arabia's actions in the region.
I need it according to South Africa's accusation of genocide in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the most significant factor challenging Israel's actions at the moment.
According to the interim decision of the ICJ, Israel must do everything possible to ensure that nothing resembling genocide occurs in Gaza.
On Tuesday, South Africa asked the ICJ to consider whether a full-scale attack on Rafah would violate the court's interim ruling.
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