Netanyahu’s pledge to attack Rafah ‘tramples’ ceasefire talks: Political analyst
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Jordan as part of the latest diplomatic push for a ceasefire in Gaza.
It’s Blinken’s seventh visit to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began.
On Monday he met regional leaders in Saudi Arabia and is expected to visit Israel next.
Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker is monitoring developments in occupied East Jerusalem.
Nour Odeh is a political analyst and expert on Palestinian affairs, she says that while there had been some positive signs over the past few days of a potential truce deal in Gaza, the hopes now are dim after Netanyahu’s latest comments.
“For a while, there was a lot of cautious optimism up until this morning, and then the prime minister announced he will order an invasion of Rafah with or without a deal – in essence trampling all of these ceasefire talks,” Nour Odeh told Al Jazeera.
“This is what the families of the captives had feared. This is what the negotiators feared.”
Netanyahu’s comments came after he held meetings with the most right-wing members of his coalition government, including Itamar Ben-Gvir, she said, noting the US secretary of state is on his way to Israel.
“It’s interesting, every time Blinken comes to the region – catching the tailwind of some optimism – something like this happens, and he ends up going home with nothing to show for all this political momentum.”
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