Tensions build behind the scenes between US and Israel over Gaza
Western officials continue to ask searching questions about future strategy as diplomatic pressure mounts
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On the surface,
Joe Biden gave Israel a clear green light to continue its military campaign in Gaza on Wednesday night, and endorsed its claim that Hamas has been using the al-Shifa hospital as a command and control headquarters.
His remarks in San Francisco after a meeting with Xi Jinping will delight
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.
But the pattern of US behaviour since the war started is to provide public support alongside private caution. Behind the scenes the tensions are escalating, and issues around the Israeli strategy are unresolved.
Indeed, the frank admission by Eli Cohen, Israel’s foreign minister, on Monday that Israel had “two to three weeks” before it faced significant diplomatic pressure for a ceasefire may prove optimistic. It is said the IDF has prepared short- and long-term campaign plans, dependent on the political environment in which they operate.
Clues that Israel is under pressure are surfacing.
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Similarly, the raid on the al-Shifa hospital has not been seen in Israel and the American press as quite the slam-dunk moment Biden presented. It was high-risk and high-reward in that it would, according to Israeli claims backed up by the US, reveal
Hamas had indeed been using the hospital as a command and control centre.
The Jerusalem Post analysis, broadly supported by New York Times investigations, asked how 2,000 Hamas fighters had evaporated. Saudi, UAE and Qatari diplomats all issued statements dismissing the Israeli claims.
Israel may legitimately argue it needs more time to search through a vast complex and dig deep beneath the building, but more time was the plea of UN weapons inspectors in Iraq in 2003, and eventually they drew an embarrassing blank.
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-us-questions-gaza-strategy-and-postwar-plans
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