Opinion: To end Israel's genocide in Gaza, the world must sideline the US

On 13 June, Hamas responded to persistent needling by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken over America's proposal for a pause in the Israeli massacre in Gaza.

The group said that it had “dealt positively… with the latest proposal and all proposals to reach a cease-fire agreement”. Hamas added, by contrast, that, "while Blinken continues to talk about Israel’s approval of the latest proposal, we have not heard any Israeli official voicing approval".

The full details of the US proposal have yet to be made public, but the pause in Israeli attacks and release of hostages in the first phase would reportedly lead to further negotiations for a more lasting ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in the second phase. But there is no guarantee that the second round of negotiations will succeed. 

As former Israeli Labor Party prime minister, Ehud Barak, told Israel Radio on 3 June: “How do you think [Gaza military commander] Sinwar will react when he is told: 'but be quick, because we still have to kill you, after you return all the hostages'?”

Meanwhile, as Hamas pointed out, Israel has not publicly accepted the terms of the latest US ceasefire proposal, so it has only the word of US officials that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has privately agreed to it.

In public, Netanyahu still insists that he is committed to the complete destruction of Hamas and its governing authority in Gaza, and has actually stepped up Israel’s vicious attacks in central and southern Gaza.

The basic disagreement that President Joe Biden and Blinken’s smoke and mirrors cannot hide is that Hamas, like every Palestinian, wants a real end to the genocide, while the Israeli and US governments do not. 

Opinion: To end Israel's genocide in Gaza, the world must sideline the US by Nicolas J S Davies, Medea Benjamin