https://sputnikglobe.com/20231215/hersh-hamas-troops-surrendering-in-gaza-west-bank-crisis-is-next-tinderbox-1115609130.html
Hersh: Hamas Troops Surrendering in Gaza, West Bank Crisis is Next Tinderbox
Hersh: Hamas Troops Surrendering in Gaza, West Bank Crisis is Next Tinderbox
Sputnik International
The growing crisis in the West Bank is fraught with the risk of sparking a regional war in the Middle East, as Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh wrote in his recent blog post.
2023-12-15T16:49+0000
2023-12-15T16:49+0000
2023-12-15T16:49+0000
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seymour hersh
joe biden
benjamin netanyahu
west bank
israel
hamas
israeli defense forces (idf)
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While the Joe Biden administration appears to have turned a blind eye to mounting civilian casualties in Gaza, the US president is concerned about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attacks on the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, according to Hersh.According to Hersh, Netanyahu and Israeli hardliners want carte blanche from the Biden White House for their actions in the West Bank.He quoted his source as saying that Netanyahu cabinet officials "are pissed at Biden and think he should have said that we’re with you all the way: 'You got to do [in the West Bank] what you got to do'."The most ardent supporter of tougher measures against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank is National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a lawyer and right-wing politician. The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist noted that Biden was "uncharacteristically caustic about Gvir", suggesting that the minister and his allies are against the two-state solution.According to Hersh's source, the crucial question faced by US intelligence analysts "is whether there is going to be a regional war" in the Middle East if Tel Aviv continues to ignore the growing crisis in the West Bank. That question is "up in the air" given Netanyahu's ongoing legal predicament and the backing he needs from Ben Gvir and his supporters.Commenting on the prospects of the two-state solution in the Middle East, the intelligence official noted that "there is a lot of behind-the-scenes back-and-forth."Gaza War and Fate of HamasMeanwhile, the "astonishing number" of civilians dying in Gaza has "left a stain" on Israel's international reputation — worrying even some former Israeli military officers, Hersh said. One told the investigative journalist that the disparity in Israeli and Palestinian civilian deaths "is something that Israelis will have to think about." The officer supports the war "but the balance is not right."Hersh said he had learnt that as many as 700 Hamas soldiers had opted to surrender to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). A senior aide to Yahya Sinjar, the purported masterminds behind Hamas’s October 7 cross-border raid, is also said to have surrendered. "Israel expected Hamas to fight to the end, just as America thought the Japanese would do in World War II," the US source told Hersh. The journalist noted that Sinjar is believed to be hiding somewhere in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.The journalist also discovered that Israel and Hamas leadership in exile have renewed contacts with regard to a possible exchange of Israeli hostages for imprisoned Palestinians. Reportedly, Hamas wants to exchange 10 hostages for 40 prisoners in Israeli jails and a 48-hour ceasefire. The US official told Hersh that some elderly hostages in Hamas' custody had died due to lack of medical treatment.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20231213/israel-to-continue-war-against-hamas-regardless-of-international-support---foreign-minister-1115556148.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20231214/post-war-gaza-may-be-overseen-by-ex-palestinian-authority-security-forces---us-official-1115595310.html
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israel, gaza, the gaza strip, gaza war, hamas, israel-hamas war, violence in west bank, israeli settlers attack palestinians in west bank, joe biden, post-war gaza, palestinian authority
israel, gaza, the gaza strip, gaza war, hamas, israel-hamas war, violence in west bank, israeli settlers attack palestinians in west bank, joe biden, post-war gaza, palestinian authority
Hersh: Hamas Troops Surrendering in Gaza, West Bank Crisis is Next Tinderbox
The growing crisis in the West Bank is fraught with the risk of sparking a regional war in the Middle East, as Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh wrote in his recent blog post.
While the Joe Biden administration appears to have turned a blind eye to mounting civilian casualties in Gaza, the US president is concerned about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attacks on the Palestinian Authority in
the West Bank, according to Hersh.
"Steadily increasing violence committed there against the Palestinian population by Israeli settlers, who are openly supported by the IDF and the extremists that now dominate Israeli politics, has triggered alarms in Washington," the investigative journalist wrote, quoting a US official with access to sensitive information.
"The official told me that 'Bibi’s continuing campaign' in the West Bank 'is complicating Israel’s efforts to create favorable arrangements in Gaza after the war ends,' and the violence has become a 'huge obstacle' for the Biden administration."
According to Hersh, Netanyahu and Israeli hardliners want carte blanche from the Biden White House for their actions in the West Bank.
He quoted his source as saying that Netanyahu cabinet officials
"are pissed at Biden and think he should have said that we’re with you all the way: 'You got to do [in the West Bank] what you got to do'."The most ardent supporter of tougher measures against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank is National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a lawyer and right-wing politician. The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist noted that Biden was "uncharacteristically caustic about Gvir", suggesting that the minister and his allies are against the two-state solution.
According to Hersh's source, the crucial question faced by US intelligence analysts "is whether there is going to be a regional war" in the Middle East if Tel Aviv continues to ignore the growing crisis in the West Bank. That question is "up in the air" given Netanyahu's ongoing legal predicament and the backing he needs from Ben Gvir and his supporters.
Commenting on the prospects of the two-state solution in the Middle East, the intelligence official noted that "there is a lot of behind-the-scenes back-and-forth."
13 December 2023, 13:25 GMT
Gaza War and Fate of Hamas
Meanwhile, the "astonishing number" of civilians dying in Gaza has "left a stain" on Israel's international reputation — worrying even some former Israeli military officers, Hersh said. One told the investigative journalist that the disparity in Israeli and Palestinian civilian deaths "is something that Israelis will have to think about." The officer supports the war "but the balance is not right."
Hersh said he had learnt that as many as 700 Hamas soldiers had opted to surrender to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). A senior aide to Yahya Sinjar, the purported masterminds behind Hamas’s October 7 cross-border raid, is also said to have surrendered.
"Israel expected Hamas to fight to the end, just as America thought the Japanese would do in World War II," the US source told Hersh. The journalist noted that Sinjar is believed to be hiding somewhere in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
The journalist also discovered that Israel and Hamas leadership in exile have renewed contacts with regard to a possible exchange of Israeli hostages for imprisoned Palestinians.
"At this point, I was told, there are 137 Israelis in Hamas custody and still thought to be alive," Hersh wrote. "All were taken hostage on October 7, and as many as thirty-six of them are believed to be active IDF members, men and women between the ages of eighteen to thirty-one. Eight civilian women and two children are still believed to be in custody."
Reportedly, Hamas wants to exchange 10 hostages for 40 prisoners in Israeli jails and a 48-hour ceasefire. The US official told Hersh that some elderly hostages in Hamas' custody had died due to lack of medical treatment.
After all hostages are freed "the entire [Hamas] leadership—political, religious, and military—will be killed in the countries where they live," Hersh's contact said, adding that Mossad — the Israeli intelligence service — "is already tracking them, but killing them before the hostages are out is risky."
14 December 2023, 23:32 GMT
