Here’s to hoping diplomacy prevails and the truce in the Gaza continues.
This week, the tone has changed, as more images emerge of aid trucks arriving in the region. On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken took a harder line than we have heard previously, stepping up calls for Israel to comply with international law.
At home, U.S. Sen. Peter Welch has joined the chorus of U.S. leaders now demanding that the truce continue indefinitely.
While the pleas for peace are becoming more urgent, the battle lines remain clear, even with signs of movement.
Blinken “urged immediate steps to hold settler extremists accountable for violence against Palestinians in the West Bank” and said the U.S. places great importance on the resumption of a peace process that would eventually lead to the creation of a Palestinian state.
However, Israeli officials have pledged to the U.S. that Israeli settler violence will be punished. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state, having told Israelis that he is the only political leader who can prevent it. In a recorded message on Thursday, Netanyahu noted that his talks with Blinken had taken place shortly after a Hamas-claimed attack in which two Palestinian gunmen opened fire on commuters at the entrance to Jerusalem. Netanyahu said he told Blinken, “This is the same Hamas that carried out the terrible massacre on Oct. 7, the same Hamas that tries to murder us everywhere. I told him: We swore, and I swore, to eliminate Hamas. Nothing will stop us.”
Netanyahu is sticking to his word. It would seem that the moment a cease-fire is lifted, perhaps in the next day or so, Israeli attacks will resume with renewed ferocity.
Welch has joined other lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, who early on urged a cease-fire. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders also is pushing for conditions on aid, including insisting Israel enter into peace talks. We remain appreciative for our delegation’s resolve.
Welch (and many other leaders) this week have noted the change in tone as well. He called the cease-fire “the first glimmer of hope” since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
Which is why Welch is calling for the continued truce. “Israel’s enemy is Hamas, not the Palestinian people,” he said, noting the cease-fire is likely to expire soon. “That would be a grave mistake.”
He reiterated that he supports Israel’s right “to pursue those who ordered and carried out the attacks” but Israel “must not do so in a way that leads to massive civilian casualties and the large-scale destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza. This will only incite more enemies against Israel and the U.S. … For this reason, the ceasefire must be extended indefinitely.”
The senator noted that the U.S. cannot condone a resumption of the bombing “when it causes death and injury to so many civilians;” the cease-fire must be extended to ensure access to humanitarian relief to those who have been displaced; negotiations must continue to secure the release of the remaining hostages; and a process needs to begin for giving practical meaning to the two-state solution.
Those terms will not be met, of course. And the congressional showdown over aid to the region will lead to further posturing and gridlock in Washington, D.C. — just as some partisans want. But the pleas are having an effect.
Meanwhile, the impact of the war continues to be felt around the globe, with more and more incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia (including right here in Vermont).
Some would argue the only way the conflict in the Mideast is resolved is through diplomacy. But Israel’s leadership does not seem willing to budge on its motives. That may be a fool’s errand.
Welch and others around the globe are doing the right thing by applying pressure for peace.
“The United States must lead, in partnership with other nations and leaders that share this vision, a reinvigorated and sustained multinational effort to bring about a viable, independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel,” Welch said in his statement. “President Biden has established his support for Israel as America’s close ally and has upheld its right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state. I have long joined in that support. I always will. But the Netanyahu government, President Biden, and the Congress must also actively support the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people.”
Blinken reiterated the U.S. remains committed to supporting Israel’s right to self defense. But he also said it is imperative that Israel protect civilians if it starts major military operations in southern Gaza.
Even Blinken is seeing that enough is enough. “His message aligns with the Biden administration’s shifting rhetoric on the war, which began as a full-throated embrace of Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks but gradually tempered as the number of Palestinian civilian casualties began to rise dramatically. The death toll and scale of destruction has prompted widespread international criticism,” according to an Associated Press dispatch on Thursday.
If the nation’s top diplomat is sensing the change, the pressure toward more peace might be working.
