‘The world cannot afford to wait any longer’ for Gaza truce deal, says US

JERUSALEM: The United States said Tuesday (Sep 3) it was time to “finalise” a deal between Israel and Hamas to end the Gaza war after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to bow to pressure.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller spoke a day after Netanyahu doubled down despite domestic and international pressure following the recovery by Israel’s military of six killed hostages from the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
“There are dozens of hostages still remaining in Gaza, still waiting for a deal that will bring them home. It is time to finalise that deal,” Miller said.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk called for an “independent, impartial and transparent investigation” into reports they were summarily executed.
US President Joe Biden, meeting with negotiators, replied “no” when asked if he thought Netanyahu was doing enough to secure a hostage deal.
Netanyahu, whose ruling coalition relies on the support of far-right ministers who oppose a truce, said Hamas’s refusal to make concessions was the real obstacle.
Hamas has long demanded a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and Egyptian officials have objected to an Israeli military presence on the border.
Netanyahu “wants to occupy Gaza on some level indefinitely” and was now “just saying it more openly”, analyst Mairav Zonszein told AFP.
Israel occupied the Gaza Strip in 1967 and maintained troops and settlers there until 2005, when it withdrew but imposed a crippling blockade and, since the start of the current war, a total siege.
Increasing the pressure on Israel, Britain on Monday said it would suspend some arms exports, citing a “clear risk” they could be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law.
On Tuesday, the civil defence spokesman in Hamas-run Gaza said an Israeli raid on a college killed two people and injured 30.
Israel’s campaign against Hamas has so far killed at least 40,819 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry. The UN rights office says most of the dead are women and children.
The Oct 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians and including hostages killed in captivity, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the attack, 97 remain in Gaza including 33 the Israeli military says are dead. Scores were released during a one-week truce in November – the only one so far.
Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said Monday remaining hostages would return “inside coffins” if Israel maintains its military pressure on the territory.