Israeli criticism alters US ceasefire terms

While American officials continue to fume at the Israeli media for its harsh criticism of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts to reach a ceasefire last week, apparently it had some effect. During a speech, Kerry says that “any process to resolve the crisis in Gaza… must lead to the disarmament of Hamas.” In a ceasefire proposal Kerry had submitted to Israel on Friday, no disarmament of Hamas was mentioned.

Israeli ministers had unanimously rejected the draft, arguing that it undermined the Egyptian ceasefire proposal that Israel had previously accepted and Hamas had rejected, and reflected the input of Turkey and Qatar to the clear benefit of Hamas, sources told TOI earlier Monday.

The wording marked an upgrading of Hamas’s standing, to an entity on an equivalent level with Israel, the sources said. And it provided specific gains for Hamas, while including only amorphous language regarding Israel’s security needs, they said.

However, Kerry’s proposal did reflect “a position that both demilitarization and the reconstruction of Gaza are important agenda items that follow negotiations that follow a ceasefire,” a senior US official insisted Sunday night.

— Raphael Ahren