A Palestinian delegation has arrived in Cairo to present Egyptian mediators with their proposals on a settlement to end the ongoing Gaza War. The Egyptian junta will relay the demands to Israel’s delegation, if and when Israel ever bothers to send one.
That may not happen, however, as Israeli officials are at this point saying they don’t intend to send a delegation at all, believing there is “no point” and that the war will just continue on.
The Palestinians have an array of demands aiming to end the blockade on Gaza, and while Israeli officials have made reference to goals of their own, their unwillingness to allow the Palestinians to get anything out of the deal means they prefer extending the war.
This has two apparent purposes for the Israeli government. Primarily they want to avoid giving any chance for Hamas to present the war as a “victory,” but with soaring civilian tolls they also want to avoid any post-war probe, insisting they will have their own probe only after the fighting ends. If the fighting never formally ends, that means they can basically punt on the matter forever.
The US had been pushing Israel on negotiations last week, but seems to have more or less given up after the 72-hour ceasefire that was supposed to usher in the talks lasted only 75 minutes.