At this point, it should be clear that Hamas is not and never has been the obstacle to securing a prisoner swap and ceasefire in Gaza. Yet, it doesn’t matter how willing Hamas truly is with the fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is using every tool he can to create excuses as to why the war can’t come to an end, which is important to understand.

When the United States and their Israeli partners talk about the need for Hamas to sit at the table, calling on the Palestinian Resistance to accept a ceasefire deal, it is all nonsense. The analysis pieces, leaked conversations, and update articles that we see regularly published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Axios, and other outlets are all adding to a work of fiction that has been crafted for domestic US and Israeli consumption. 

There are no current negotiations, just discussions between the Israelis and Americans, which then are forwarded to the negotiating teams of Egypt and Qatar, before the conversation ultimately ends the exact same way it began, as useless ramblings that only give cover for further Israeli war crimes. This is the case as Hamas sits by and waits for the circus to end so that it can actually talk business.

The framework for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange has already been proposed by the United States and ratified by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), and Hamas has agreed to it. Meanwhile, the Zionist entity does not speak for itself on what it has or hasn’t exactly accepted; instead, it allows the likes of US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, to tell the world that the UNSC-endorsed Biden proposal was actually an Israeli proposal before later changing his story to that the Israelis had accepted Biden’s proposal. Even at this level, the contradictions prove how unserious the Zionist regime is.

On May 6, when Hamas announced that they had accepted a ceasefire proposal - that was almost identical to the one that Antony Blinken had spent two weeks lauding - the Israeli response was immediate rejection, followed by the invasion of the Rafah crossing. 

The Israeli PM has continually argued that the war must continue until Hamas is defeated in Gaza, an objective that even the Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari has said is impossible. Moreover, Netanyahu’s insistence on destroying Hamas is indicative of his outright rejection of a ceasefire. You can either defeat Hamas or do a ceasefire deal with them, you can’t have both, it simply makes no sense. 

Another important point to understand is that despite the change in US President Joe Biden’s rhetoric and that of his administration, calling for an “immediate ceasefire”, you will notice that when Israeli officials comment on the issue of a ceasefire, they do so with a focus on the prisoner exchange aspect and often follow this up by stating that they must still retain the right to attack Hamas. In other words, the only ceasefire that the Zionist entity entertains is a temporary one that will ensure the release of their captives, after which they seek the "right" to continue the war. This is exactly what Benjamin Netanyahu argues, which, in essence, means that he’s openly telling Hamas to give up its bargaining chips for no reason.

The issue of Israeli forces remaining in both the Philadelphia and Netzarim corridors is a new addition to the ceasefire talks and directly violates the framework outlined in UNSC Resolution 2735 that was adopted on June 10. The resolution states explicitly that in phase 2 of the ceasefire agreement “upon agreement of the parties, a permanent end to hostilities, in exchange for the release of all other hostages still in Gaza, and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza," adding that it “rejects any attempt at demographic or territorial change in the Gaza Strip, including any actions that reduce the territory of Gaza."

The evidence that "Israel" outright rejects what is quoted above from the Security Council resolution is not just limited to these new additions to the non-existent ceasefire negotiations. When Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Congress in July, he swore that his regime was going to secure “total victory” and argued for occupying Gaza internally for a limited period of time instead of permanently. If we look at all the polling data on the opinion of Israelis, the majority of the public also agree with these ideas too.

On top of this, the Israeli military has been creating a “buffer zone” around the perimeter of the Gaza Strip, blowing up and burning every single structure in an area that constitutes 32 percent of the besieged coastal territory. Furthermore, the new addition to the Zionist entity’s war plan which is agreed upon by the majority of the Israeli cabinet is the idea of seizing the entirety of northern Gaza for a “security zone” and expelling the hundreds of thousands of residents who live there.

Related News

Why I hate Zionism and will never forgive its disciples

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the revolutionary who fought for the oppressed

As occurred in Rafah, where around a million people were completely uprooted and pushed into the ever-changing so-called “safe zone” area of al-Mawasi, the Zionist entity appears to be trying to concentrate the entire Palestinian civilian population into this zone. When the civilians arrive there, they are then repeatedly forced to move on foot and their tents are bombed, burying their bodies beneath mounds of sand.

The Zionist regime is engaged in what is clearly an “endless war”, or a war of attrition, which the United States government is fully backing with tens of billions of dollars worth of weapons. The end goal here is not actually clear, but what is certain is that Benjamin Netanyahu is not about to give up. If we follow the trajectory of the war so far, it is completely dependent upon Israeli domestic politics. The war has worked as follows:

Stage 1: “Israel” launches an unprecedented air attack that decimates civilian infrastructure, while commanding the civilian population to head south, where they are also bombed.

Stage 2: “Israel” invades the Gaza Strip, focusing on the northern part of the territory and claiming that Hamas is operating its HQ out of Al-Shifa Hospital and bases out of other hospitals. It then fails to find any headquarters.

Stage 3: A prisoner exchange is concluded, during which time the Israeli regime is changing its narrative.

Stage 4: “Israel” invades Khan Younis and central Gaza, claiming that the “real Hamas headquarters is in Khan Younis," ultimately failing to inflict any real blow on the Palestinian Resistance.

Stage 5: “Israel” winds down the clock with more brief military incursions into areas they have already invaded, inflicting countless more civilian massacres and holding off on what they now began arguing was the true headquarters for Hamas in Rafah. During this period, Benjamin Netanyahu argued that the tunnels were being used to transfer weapons and that the war could not be won without a Rafah invasion.

Stage 6: Hamas accepts a ceasefire proposal after the US had been placing pressure on the Israelis to steer clear from a major invasion of Rafah. Netanyahu decides that same day to invade Rafah but not to wage the sort of campaign he was hoping for. 

Stage 7: After having invaded every area in Gaza, the Israelis are out of excuses and are throwing out random ideas, hoping they will stick and convince their own population. This has led to reviving the idea of seizing northern Gaza, which was initially proposed at the beginning of the war, yet a large portion of the Israeli public is now demanding the return of the captives, which presents a major issue. So, they are looking for anything new to buy time before the inevitable next steps must be taken.

This brings us to today.

The Zionist regime doesn't want a ceasefire and the US pressure simply is not there to force it to change its mind. The only thing that is now applying real pressure is the relentless fire from Hezbollah on the northern front, which has grown to the point that it cannot be ignored. In order to stop the Lebanese Resistance, they have two options: End the war on Gaza or start another war with Lebanon. If the Zionist entity will not give up on its genocidal assault on the Gaza Strip, then war with Lebanon is inevitable and will likely end up taking place inside Syrian territory also.