On May 5, breaking news that Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire agreement spread like wildfire across Gaza, driving people to the streets in celebration. Their joy was short-lived, however, as Israel followed up with a deadly ground attack on Rafah.
After facing weeks of accusations from Israel and the United States that its stance was hindering progress in ceasefire negotiations, Hamas made a strategic decision that effectively outmaneuvered its enemy. The ball is now in Israel’s court and therefore also in its most important supporter, the United States.
If no agreement on a permanent ceasefire is reached, Israel will be exposed as a true spoiler of peace and the US as a dishonest broker.
There are already signs that the two are playing a game, trying to sell the world an unconvincing narrative that Israel was unaware of the deal proposed to Hamas and that the US opposes Israeli action in Rafah.
Despite the appearance of public surprise and confusion on the part of both, it may well be that they knew and expected what would happen next.
Israel has claimed that it rejects the agreement because it is unaware of the new provisions contained therein, and yet there are reports that CIA chief Bill Burns, who is involved in the negotiations, has informed the Israeli side. And given President Joe Biden’s “ironclad” support of Israel, it seems highly unlikely that his administration would negotiate a deal that does not benefit his ally’s interests.
The United States, for its part, has maintained that it strongly opposes an Israeli ground offensive against Gaza. And yet the operation has begun and the Biden administration’s response has been to downplay it rather than denounce it. John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, said that it was reportedly not the full-scale invasion everyone expected, but a “limited” operation, indirectly indicating that the US was aware of Israel’s plans.
In this context, it is important to remember another “limited” operation that the US supposedly opposed, which turned out to be not so “limited”. At the start of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982, then-Israeli Prime Minister Menahem Begin claimed that the Israeli army would advance only 40 km (25 miles) into Lebanese territory to “eliminate” positions of Palestinian armed groups that had been bombing northern Israel.
Not surprisingly, Israeli troops did not stop at 40 km, but advanced every 110 km (68 miles) to and captured the capital, Beirut. To cover up its deception, the Israeli government claimed that the full-scale invasion was necessary because of the “situation on the ground” – a weak justification that even then-Foreign Minister Alexander Haig repeated. It was not until 2000 that the Israelis withdrew from Lebanon.
Throughout Israel’s war on Gaza, there was no public warning from the United States that Israel heeded. Indeed, it is unclear to what extent such warnings only serve to put pressure on the Israeli government while continuing to support its every move. With that in mind, reports that the Biden administration is withholding an arms shipment to Israel to pressure it to stop the full-scale invasion of Rafah should be viewed with caution.
In the context of this supposedly “limited” operation, there is concern that the US is tacitly acquiescing to the occupation of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt by Israeli forces.
The Israeli takeover of the Palestinian border crossing not only caused panic in Gaza, where people fear urgently needed aid could be completely blocked, but also widespread concern in Cairo, which condemned the attack.
Egypt has repeatedly warned in the past that any presence of Israeli military troops on the Palestinian side of the Philadelphia Corridor is a violation of the Camp David Accords and the Philadelphia Protocol, which require the area to be demilitarized.
The Camp David Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt was negotiated and guaranteed by the United States in 1979. It was later supplemented by the Philadelphia Protocol in 2005 after Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip. Egypt has abided by the terms of the agreement, but Israel now appears to have stopped doing so.
The Biden administration may believe it is successfully deflecting criticism by portraying the Israeli invasion of Rafah as “limited,” but occupying the border crossing in violation of a U.S.-backed treaty sends a clear message that the U.S. and Israel are against have no concerns They are ignoring all the agreements they have signed.
In addition, Washington is doing everything it can to protect Israel from legal consequences for the atrocities it commits in Gaza, thereby undermining international law. U.S. officials have called U.N. Security Council resolutions “non-binding,” condemned the International Court of Justice for recognizing the situation in Gaza as a “plausible” genocide, and threatened the International Criminal Court with sanctions if it issues arrest warrants against Israeli officials should issue.
As things stand, Biden is on track to lose the November election and leave a terrible legacy: overseeing a genocide in Gaza and undermining the international legal order to pave the way for more atrocities and greater impunity.
It is not yet too late to change course. Biden must put real, decisive pressure on Israel to accept a permanent ceasefire agreement with Hamas, fully withdraw from Gaza, lift the siege, and allow full humanitarian access and the start of reconstruction.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of Al Jazeera.