Winter has returned. We’ve been in rain most of the day, and there was hail in the Golan.
There was another leak about the potential hostage deal. Seems the cease-fire is only for 6 weeks. After that the IDF is free to move again. But Hamas isn’t ready to sign. Meanwhile, IDF has actually pulled out of Khan Yunis and Hamas has returned.
Australia is talking about recognition for a Palestinian state. But no mention of borders or refugee right of return, or Jerusalem. Those three items are what have caused the failure of the Oslo Accords to be fully implemented (i.e. Palestinian statehood). It may be popular to talk about a ‘free Palestine’ but just what that means in practice may be something quite different from what some people imagine. I’ve heard lots of Gazans expressing preference for Israeli rule over that of Hamas, but no one is making that option available. Hamas already has a terrorist cadre ready to kill anyone who might oppose their return to power. (They have already done this in some places). A western style democracy is not currently an option. Recognized borders are a requirement for statehood. Hamas claims all of what was British mandate Palestine (no Israel). The US opposes Palestinian statehood because there is nothing saying that such a state is willing to live in peace with its neighbors.
Hamas strategy has always been to sacrifice lives of Palestinians (the true hostages) in return for international pressure on Israel to grant various concessions, (this week Israel opened water lines into Gaza, for which the Palestinians do not pay anything). Hamas leaders are billionaires because they take a part of what the world pays for keeping the Gazans imprisoned.
Wetherhorn 