Sharp Divide Between Biden & Bibi Emerges As Blinken Says It's "Clear That Israel Cannot Occupy Gaza" After War
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is currently at a Group of Seven summit in Tokyo, where he told a press briefing on the sidelines that "it is clear that Israel cannot occupy Gaza" on a permanent basis.
The comments affirm that Washington has been intensely involved in talks concerning what happens after the war. "Gaza cannot be continued to be run by Hamas. That simply invites repetition of Oct. 7... It's also clear that Israel cannot occupy Gaza," Blinken said after meeting with G7 foreign ministers.
"Now, the reality is that there may be a need for some transition period at the end of the conflict ... We don't see a reoccupation and what I've heard from Israeli leaders, is that they have no intent to reoccupy Gaza."
Earlier this week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he foresees Israeli troops overseeing the security of Gaza "for an indefinite period" after Hamas is defeated. He appeared to reject headlines suggesting a multinational peacekeeping force would fill the role.
"I think Israel will for an indefinite period have security responsibility," Netanyahu told ABC News. "We’ve seen what happens when we don’t have that… security responsibility, what we have is the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we couldn’t imagine."
The words are being widely interpreted as a sign of growing disagreement between the US and Israel over the crisis. The divide is sharpening and becoming more and more public, also after on Monday Netanyahu rejected Biden's request for a three-day humanitarian 'pause' in a phone call. On top of this remains the growing international pressure over the immense civilian death toll in Gaza, having surpassed 10,000 people by the start of the week:
And the mounting death toll and humanitarian crisis have fueled growing outrage. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's suggestion that Israel would maintain "overall security responsibility" for Gaza when the conflict ends raised new questions over what his country plans, and drew a new warning from the White House.
There was also growing evidence of fallout in the United States, where tensions have been high on city streets and college campuses. House lawmakers censured Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the sole Palestinian American in Congress, over her remarks and actions in response to the Israel-Hamas war.
Meanwhile, IDF troops have been circulating photos like the following from Gaza:
PHOTO: Israel is back in #Gaza - and we ARE HERE TO STAY in our ancestral land and our ancient beaches!!! pic.twitter.com/8vvWnWjp9m
— Yishai Fleisher يشاي ישי פליישר 🕎 (@YishaiFleisher) November 8, 2023
The Biden White House has lately been mulling a plan behind the scenes that would see international peacekeeping forces control the security situation in the Gaza Strip once the war is over, which is premised on the total demise of Hamas, proving no small task especially given the immense network of miles of tunnels the group can utilize.
The post-Hamas "day after" has also been subject of proposals out of some leading Congressmen. There was speculation at first that Israeli leadership might welcome this, but the Netanyahu remarks in the ABC interview reveal different thinking in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
This week civilians in Gaza have been seen fleeing from the northern half of the Strip to the south while holding large white flags, after in some prior instances civilians were killed by Israeli airstrikes while traversing north-south roadways.
As for the G7 meeting, a statement produced from Tokyo said it also supports Ukraine's defense against Russia "for as long as it takes." The G7 statement also took aim at alleged Russian-North Korean weapons transfers, and also heavily criticized China on a range of issues.
