It is not clear what was the motive behind US President Donald Trump’s call to Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the need to progress the Gaza peace plan. It is possible that, after the major defeat of the Republican Party in last week’s midterm elections, the White House was looking for a scapegoat. Furthermore, with the results of the Israeli elections, blaming Israel will have little cost with Tel Aviv, since the tide is already turning against Trump’s friend Netanyahu, who does not look like he will stay in power for much longer.
The reporting of the phone call also shows the influence of the Israeli prime minister on a project that is often referred to as the Trump plan for Gaza.
This development came as tens of thousands of Gazans were once again left tentless as the season’s first big downpour in the Strip flooded many of the makeshift shelters that have replaced the homes Israel has destroyed in its ongoing genocidal war.
The images of tent camps underwater are heartbreaking, especially when one realizes that hundreds of prefabricated homes are sitting idle just on the other side of the border. The Netanyahu government’s delay in allowing these homes to cross into the territory is a cruel collective punishment that makes little sense. For the right-wing Israeli leader and his settler-dominated government, any humanitarian act in Gaza is considered a reward for Hamas, even though the group has agreed to disarm and end its rule of the Strip.
For Netanyahu and his government, any humanitarian act in Gaza is considered a reward for Hamas
Daoud Kuttab
The 15-member technocratic government created by the Trump team and agreed to by Israel and the Palestinian government in Ramallah is also still being denied entry into Gaza for no apparent reason, except the continuous rejection by Netanyahu of any act that might appear humanitarian to Palestinians by his voters.
Now that Netanyahu has been rejected by Israeli voters, including a strong showing by Palestinian citizens, it is not clear whether Trump’s call will be sufficient to move the Gaza process from phase one to phase two.
Phase two, according to the plan authorized by the UN Security Council, includes the use of heavy equipment to help remove the rubble that the Israeli war on the people of Gaza has caused. International agencies have also regularly complained, including to the UNSC, that Israel is still not permitting sufficient humanitarian aid to enter the Strip. Instead, Israel has given a monopoly to four Israeli companies to deliver all sorts of humanitarian and nonhumanitarian goods. This monopoly, which is being contested in Israeli courts by Palestinian business owners, has caused a huge spike in prices that the beleaguered population has little choice but to pay.
Despite three years of suffering, the international community continues to fail to properly address the Gaza crisis. The only obstacle is the Israeli occupation forces, with clear direction from the Netanyahu administration and with total complicity from Washington.
Trump needs to turn his words into action and cooperate with the Palestinian leadership and international agencies
Daoud Kuttab
Trump might find it necessary to verbally blame Israel for his party’s loss in last week’s midterm elections. But the reality is that he cannot assign blame to others when he and his administration have given the criminal Israeli regime their total backing. The American overreach has included supplying Israel with weapons, defending it in the UNSC and sanctioning the international tribunals that are investigating the crimes committed by its ally.
What Trump needs to do is to turn his words into action and cooperate with the Palestinian leadership and international agencies, as well as major allies like the UK and the EU, to bring an immediate end to the senseless suffering the Palestinians in Gaza are enduring.
The borders need to be opened in both directions. The Palestinian security forces under Mahmoud Abbas are ready and able to move in quickly to restore order and take over from Hamas. If this option is rejected, then the International Stabilization Force that is part of the Trump plan should be allowed to immediately enter Gaza and take over all aspects of the security plan initiated by Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza under the Board of Peace plan. The security plan Mladenov submitted has been approved by all relevant Palestinian groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but Israel under the rejectionist Netanyahu scuttled the plan without any serious commentary by Washington.
Now, with all excuses regarding elections over, the international community must insist on the need for the full and speedy entry of humanitarian aid at all levels, including prefabricated homes and heavy equipment. There is no more room for excuses.
