A crucial and decisive round of high-level negotiations was held as scheduled in Doha late last week, and another will be held in Cairo this week, bringing together the heads of intelligence from Egypt, the United States, Israel, and Qatar’s prime minister. Over the past few days, negotiations continued among technical teams from the four countries, and senior diplomats from all over the world shuttled across the region stressing the dire need for a ceasefire.

A ceasefire deal is the crucial step immediately needed to put an end to the horrific bloodshed in Gaza, with the number of those killed surpassing the unimaginable 40,000 mark this week, not to mention 100,000 wounded and the near total destruction of the Strip’s infrastructure and buildings. Famine and contagious diseases, including polio, are spreading among Gaza’s nearly 2.5 million inhabitants.

Ending the Israeli onslaught is the only way to avoid the regional war that all parties have been concerned about since Israel assassinated the head of Hamas’ Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran on 31 July, and the senior Hizbullah military commander, Fouad Shukr, in Beirut a day earlier. Since then the region has been on edge in anticipation of retaliation from Iran or Hizbullah, which could spiral out of control into an all-out war involving several countries in the region as well as direct US military intervention.

The ninth visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel on Monday seems to have done little to sway the Israeli premier away from the kind of hardline positions known to lead to the collapse of negotiations because they have been firmly rejected in advance by Hamas. Worse, the new conditions announced by Netanyahu clearly contradict the terms laid out in the plan announced as Israel’s by US President Joe Biden in late May.

The Biden plan, backed by a UN Security Council resolution, clearly called for a “permanent cessation of hostilities” in Gaza with the aim of ending the war, the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and a plan for the reconstruction of Gaza that would last for years and cost tens of billions. Yet, the conditions laid out by Netanyahu in the most recent round of negotiations are clearly aimed at maintaining an endless war against Palestinians and occupying the heavily populated Strip for years to come on the pretext of protecting Israel’s security and the need to defeat Hamas.

The Israeli prime minister and his mostly extremist cabinet are seeking a deal that would only allow for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas while maintaining the right to resume the war at any time, retain an Israeli military presence in Gaza along the border with Egypt and in the middle of the Strip, in the so-called Netsarim Corridor, to intercept and search those Palestinians who, having been displaced in the south, are hoping to return to their homes in the north, and hold veto power over the names of Palestinian prisoners to be released as part of the deal and the right to expel them from Palestine altogether.

To add to the complexity of the situation and tension in the region, Netanyahu did not heed Blinken’s appeal “to make sure that no one takes any steps that could derail this process. We are looking to make sure that there is no escalation, that there are no provocations, that there are no actions that in any way could move us away from getting this deal over the line, or for that matter, escalating the conflict to other places and to greater intensity.”

Netanyahu knows that, less than three weeks ahead of the US presidential elections on 5 November, all he can fear Washington is timid rhetoric and veiled criticism. Meanwhile, the generous flow of advanced weapons to Israel would never stop, but would actually increase, and scores of US warships would be rushed to the Middle East to confront Iranian threats.

Adding to the irony of the current situation, the US media reported that the expected failure of the current round of negotiations to end the war in Gaza could lead to publicly holding Netanyahu responsible by Biden and top US officials. Knowing Netanyahu, such US public criticism, if it happened, would only add to his popularity at home and the propaganda that presents him as standing alone against the whole world, including the United States, Israel’s sponsor, arms provider, and diplomatic protector at the UN Security Council.

What Blinken failed to note or admit publicly is that everyday the current US administration fails to prevail on Israel to end its genocidal war in Gaza means more Palestinian victims dying daily for no reason in violation of all regulations and conventions. While US President Biden hopes to exit the world political scene with a ceasefire deal in Gaza, this goal still seems elusive. Worse, for the people of the region, the US administration that claimed human rights as a priority when it took office in 2021 will end its term as a partner in the worst genocide known to history since World War II.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 22 August, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly