According to a top Hamas official, the Palestinian organization has sensed a change in the US’s approach toward Israel after Washington refused to back its ally’s position at the UN. The organization thinks President Joe Biden’s domestic and international pressure led to this move.
Israel expressed disapproval on Monday when the United States abstained from the most recent draft resolution calling for an end to hostilities during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The resolution’s passage was applauded by Hamas, which is often critical of the substantial political and military backing the United States has given to Israel. The organization thinks that as pressure to find a solution to the deadliest-ever flare-up in the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict intensifies, Washington could have to make more difficult choices.
Senior Hamas leader Ghazi Hamad said that the occupying state’s irrational and idiotic policies may have contributed to the apparent shifts in US policy toward Israel. He continued by saying that America has discovered that Israel is embarrassing it in front of the international community and that it is unable to defend its punitive measures against civilians. Hamas thinks that the United States can force Israel to end the conflict. As current efforts to negotiate a ceasefire accord and the release of around 134 hostages continue to stall, Israel has rejected the resolution.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken maintained the United States’ stance that a ceasefire must be a component of an agreement to free captives, justifying the country’s choice to forego a settlement resolving the Gaza conflict. In the framework of a ceasefire, he recognized the discussions Egypt, Israel, Qatar, and the United States were doing to facilitate such a release, which would also free up room for additional life-saving humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people. Blinken could not accept the final document, nevertheless, since it lacks essential language—most significantly, a denunciation of Hamas.
The most severe gap between the United States and Israel to date has resulted from growing public disputes on how to proceed with the war.
