Wednesday News Breakdown | Israel's Fake Ceasefire Offer

Okay. Today, let's talk about the what's going on with regards to this potential ceasefire agreement that was reportedly offered by Israel to Hamas, Anthony Blinken characterized as extraordinarily generous. Now The US is saying that the only thing that is standing in the way now of a ceasefire for Gaza is Hamas because Israel has made this great offer. And if they don't accept that offer, then Israel is gonna invade Rafah, and that would be Hamas's fault. Blinken spoke at the World Economic Forum Conference that was held in Saudi Arabia over the weekend.

And most Western media outlets are implying that the Saudis and the Americans are working closely together to get this Israeli offer accepted because that will clear the path to normalization, the deal of the century between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which supposedly everyone wants. Okay. Let's put this into some kind of a context. Israel is charged with genocide at the ICJ. The International Criminal Court has hinted that they're about to, indite, top Israeli officials for war crimes.

Every time Anthony Blinken goes to the Middle East, he's disrespected and ignored, and he gets recited to him over and over again, the unified Arab position, which is for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, recognition of a Palestinian state, no expulsion of Palestinians from their land, and an end to settle to settlement expansion, and in fact, dismantling of existing settlements, and a return of Israel to the 1967 borders. Basically, the Arab peace plan of twenty years ago, which itself is basically the position of the global consensus regarding Palestine. This is what Saudi Arabia tells him. This is what Jordan tells him. This is what Egypt tells him.

And, of course, this is what BRICS says as well. It's what China says. It's what Russia says, and pretty much everyone else in the world. The complete bankruptcy of both Israeli and American influence globally and regionally resulted in the Americans having to accept that, Iran, a country that they've wanted to have a justification for attacking for forty years, they had to accept that Iran was able to retaliate militarily against Israel just a few weeks ago. And The US was forced to abstain, from their usual veto during Ramadan when the United Nations issued a binding resolution for a ceasefire from Israel.

Hamas and Fateh leaders went to China over the weekend and met with top officials in Beijing to discuss reconciliation and cooperation. Hamas officials have also met with Mohammed bin Salman, and Mahmoud Abbas did also met with bin Salman at the World Economic Forum meeting again in Riyadh over the weekend. China again, has called for an international peace conference to address the Palestinian issue, and Saudi Arabia and the Arab League and BRICS have all endorsed this this proposal. Pro Palestinian student protests are spreading across the across university campuses in The United States and now also in Europe. For further context, boycotted companies like Starbucks and McDonald's and KFC, among many others, are being financially crippled all around the world.

And, of course, global shipping continues to be severely hindered by the virtual blockade that's been created by the Houthis in Yemen. The Israeli economy contracted by 20%. Their exports dropped by 20%. Private spending inside of Israel is down by nearly 30%. Over half a million Israelis left Israel since October 7.

It's even more than that. The the our latest numbers were from December. Immigration into Israel plummeted by 70. Massive protests are taking place inside of Israel demanding Netanyahu's resignation and demanding for a deal for the release of the hostages. Mass graves were discovered in Gaza, and world opinion has never been more anti Zionist and more anti American than it is right now.

There's the context for you. All of this looks to me like The US and Israel have no bargaining chips, and they're desperate. And they're largely locked out of the real negotiations that are taking place. The heavy lifting for unifying Hamas and Fatah is being done by China. Negotiations with Hamas over the hostages is being done by Egypt and Qatar.

Post war reconstruction and administration of Gaza is being planned by the GCC in China. The Americans, in my opinion, are out of the loop. So when they say that they're working closely with Saudi Arabia, when The US says that, or The US media says that, that they're working closely with The Gulf, in my opinion, that's like that's the same as someone saying that they're good friends with a celebrity because they photobombed them once when they were taking a selfie. This is Anthony Blinken trying to stick his head into the frame of a picture that he wasn't invited to be in. This so called ceasefire, by the way, is nothing but a a a fake promise by Israel that they will halt, halt the bombing campaign for about a month in exchange for the release of all hostages.

I think it's just a pathetic attempt, a pathetic effort by The US and Israel to pretend that they're still in the game, that they're in the loop. It's desperate in my opinion, And they can only try selling it by talking about what a great offer it is, how wonderful it is, and by using that old Clinton administration tactic of acting like this proposal, this ridiculous and insulting proposal is luxuriously generous when it very much is not so that they can then, try to look like, they made a concerted effort to bring peace, but those warmongering Palestinians just refused. And it's actually important, I think, to to to note that this is a Clinton administration tactic because the Americans are are seriously acting like it's still 1994, not 2024. No one believes this con anymore. And you don't have the muscle that you had back then to try to make anyone even pretend like they believe it.

The fact of the matter is, in my view, America has completely lost control in the region. Their influence is dead, but they don't want to admit it, and they don't want the voters back home to know about it. They're no longer, the leading player in the region, pure and simple. When Blinken says that he's working closely with all of the parties involved, what that means is, he's he he stops them in the hall and asks for updates about what they've decided. You know, the only card that they have or the only card that they had, to try to play in this scenario was to threaten an invasion of Rafah if the ceasefire agreement wasn't accepted.

But Netanyahu just ruined that card by saying that he'll invade Rafah with or without a ceasefire agreement. Whether or not Hamas accepts it or not, they'll still invade Rafah, which completely undermines any leverage that they might have had. This is just a last ditch effort, in my opinion, for America to try to regain some kind of an appearance, of influence in the region. I would expect that it's gonna be more or less dismissed, most likely. Now in terms of normalization, I don't dismiss the plausibility that Saudi Arabia has intimated to the Americans that they remain open to the possibility of so called normalization.

And in my opinion, the main reason for that and and the main reason why the the the Americans are even pushing for normalization is because The US doesn't want Israel to be their problem anymore. So they're trying to make deals that will enable them and that will allow them to cut the umbilical cord with Tel Aviv, which is why they want normalization, so called normalization between the Arab states and Israel. And I think one of the reasons why they were pushing specifically for The UAE and for Saudi Arabia to normalize with Israel because those are rich countries who can take over the investment and and the financial and economic responsibility for Israel, and it will let the Americans off the hook. I really think that that's what they're trying to do. They're trying to cut with Israel, but also and allow Israel to have a soft landing.

And I think that the the Saudis understand that. So they're probably they probably are letting the Americans know that they're that they continue to be open to the possibility of so called normalization. Because for the Saudis, like I've said before, for the Saudis, for the Arab states, for the GCC, when when, the West says normalization, what they hear, is our economic conquest of Israel. I think that deals and agreements are probably being not made, but drafted. But positioning is being organized first, including sorting out reconciliation with all of the Palestinian factions.

And, of course, also planning on the postwar scenario that Gaza is gonna face. But I don't think that any of these plans include The US or Israel at the moment in terms of any serious negotiations or talks. I don't think that The US or Israel, at this time, at this stage, are involved or included in any way. I think that once the positioning is secured, then these types of negotiations will begin. It seems likely to me, inshallah, that this so called ceasefire will probably fail, which will be, something of a final nail, in the, coffin of American influence in The Middle East.

And, peace negotiations and, political resolution process, I think, is gonna move to a new stage of international mediation, Insha'Allah. That's what I both hope for, and that's what I expect to happen.