Lasting Gaza peace deal ‘within weeks’, US envoy Boehler predicts confidently

Alameen Templeton

Hamas is proposing in direct talks with US envoy Adam Boehler a truce lasting between five years and a decade that will see the group disarm and effectively disappear from power in Gaza.

Boehler has called the proposal “not a bad first offer” in a round of television interviews on Israel’s Hebrew channels, asserting confidently US negotiators will reach an agreement “within weeks”.

His weekend whirlwind tour of Israel’s propaganda channels further cemented King Donald Trump’s decision to cut Fuhrer Benjamin Netanyahu out of the loop, making it clear he’s been shown the door.

End is nigh for Netanyahu
Markaz Sahaba has pointed out many times, as long as Netanyahu is able to cut to war, he is effectively in command of US military and foreign policy, because the US is “honour-bound” to support its ally in the geopolitically vital Arabian region.

So, the White House decision to engage with Hamas directly has effectively neutered Netanyahu who now watches the White House taking over television news channels on home turf while protests continue in Israel, demanding the release of all remaining hostages.

If Netanyahu had had his way, they too would have been sacrificed on the alter of his blood-soaked political career.

Already voices are being raised against Israel’s right-wing gangsters who have been allowed to put their hands on all Israeli government departments as they have effectively been able to blackmail Netanyahu into submitting to their demands by threatening to pull out of his coalition government.

So, their reach has also grasped US foreign and war policy and it is clear King Donald will not allow that to continue.

Boehler told the Kan public broadcaster at the weekend Hamas “suggested exchanging all prisoners… and a five-year to ten-year truce where Hamas would lay down all weapons and where the US, as well as other countries, would ensure that there are no tunnels, there’s nothing taken on the military side, and that Hamas is not involved in politics going forward.”

Bibi’s war-dog days are over

He bluntly told critics the “US is not an agent of Israel”, making clear Netanyahu’s tail-wagging-the-dog days were over.

Netanyahu had tried to dampen some of the sting that came from having his hand removed from the war tiller by claiming the US had acted unilaterally without informing him beforehand.

Boehler made it clear the White House had informed Israel about the talks with Hamas before they even started.

“My actions were coordinated with Israel… even though maybe there were some who said they weren’t,” he says. “My job isn’t to move Israel aside, Israel is a major ally… I want to be added to what happens to Israel, not take away.”

He dismisses conflicting narratives from Israel and Hamas on ceasefire developments, saying “that sounds a little like a game to me, that sounds like politics.”

The US negotiating team is made up of US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, National Security advisor Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio – “the A-team of foreign policy” as Boehler calls them.

Cutting out the Israeli right-wing from decision making will definitely allow a little, vital sanity to return to the process and signals the light at the end of the tunnel may indeed be light of day, rather than another incoming Merkava tank.