Written by Nidal Al:
Palestinians fear that the Lebanese crisis is diverting world attention from Gaza. Dozens more people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza this week, dimming already dim prospects for a cease-fire a year into the war that has shattered the enclave.
The conflict between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah has escalated over the past two weeks, with clashes between Israeli and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, raising fears of a wider regional war.
Both Israel and Gaza's opponents of Hamas say the conflict in Lebanon could help end the conflict in Gaza, but some analysts, mediating state officials and Gaza residents are skeptical. .
“The focus is on Lebanon, which means the war in Gaza is not going to end anytime soon,” said Hassam Ali, 45, a resident of Gaza City, whose family has lived in seven countries since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began. He said he was forced to evacuate twice. He told Reuters via a chat app on October 7 last year.
Late on Tuesday, when Iran fired a ballistic missile at Israel, provoking Israel's promise of a “painful” response, some Gaza residents called the salvo visible in the sky above their heads, saying Iran was fighting for its cause. They welcomed it as a sign that they were fighting.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, said the prospect of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza that would free Israeli hostages held in Gaza and Palestinians imprisoned in Israel was remote before the situation in Lebanon escalated. said. He said the regional conflagration could lead to pressure on Israel to reach an agreement in the Gaza Strip.
But with all eyes on Lebanon, the war in Gaza risks prolonging, said Ashraf Abu Elhoul, editor-in-chief of Egyptian state newspaper Al-Ahram, which helped broker the months-long ceasefire talks.
“The most dangerous thing is not that the media attention is going elsewhere, but the fact that no one in the world is now talking about an agreement or a ceasefire, and that is causing Israel's hand to “It means we will be free and able to continue our military attacks and advance our plans against Israel,” he said.
stalled talks
In the Gaza Strip, Israel's attacks on Hamas show no signs of slowing down. On Thursday, local doctors reported that at least 99 Palestinians had died in the past 24 hours.
Egypt, alarmed by Israeli attacks on the other side of its border with Gaza and having lost billions of dollars in Suez Canal revenues during the war, is frustrated that mediation efforts have failed to secure a ceasefire. I'm holding you.
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that while Hamas has “refused to engage” for weeks, the U.S. remains focused on securing a ceasefire.
Hamas officials and Western diplomats said in August that negotiations were stalled due to new Israeli demands for a military presence in Gaza.
“While Israel has been claiming since October 7 that its military force and pressure on Hamas and Hezbollah will help bring the hostages home, we have seen the exact opposite to be true.” said diplomatic expert Nomi Baryakov. Chatham House, a London-based think tank.
Due to Israel's intensification of attacks on Hezbollah, “a ceasefire in Gaza has been put on the back burner, given the current focus on dismantling Hezbollah's military arsenal as much as possible,” she said. Ta.
An official briefed on the Gaza ceasefire talks told Reuters: “Nobody can effectively put pressure on[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin]Netanyahu, so that's the main obstacle to a Gaza ceasefire agreement. '' said nothing would happen until after the US presidential election on November 5th.
The official said that at last week's United Nations General Assembly, Hezbollah had asked for a 21-day cease-fire with Israel to be combined with the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, but Israel rejected the idea and the plan was scrapped. Israeli government officials have publicly rejected the idea of an early ceasefire with Hezbollah.
Israel's killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last week has complicated any possibility of mediation, two Egyptian security sources said. Egypt's efforts were limited to preventing further escalation, the official said.
rockets
Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel at the start of the Gaza war in support of Hamas, causing the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents who Israel said needed to return home.
About 1,900 people have been killed and more than 9,000 injured in nearly a year of cross-border fighting in Lebanon, with most of the deaths occurring in the past two weeks, according to Lebanese government figures.
More than 1 million Lebanese have been forced to flee their homes.
Although the number of casualties is still a fraction of the number in Gaza, the Ministry of Health says at least 41,788 Palestinians have been killed and 96,794 injured since October 7 last year.
The war in Gaza began after Hamas led a surprise invasion of Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
“We sympathize with the Lebanese people and we don't want them to experience the devastation and hunger that we are enduring,” said Ghada, a mother of five living in a tent in the city of Deri in central Gaza. (50) said. Alvara, where 1 million people have been evacuated.
“I think the world is becoming less interested in what happens to us here.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
