Leila Surat is a researcher at the Arab Center for Research and Political Studies in Paris Carep, associated with Cesdip and Omam (ULB). She is the author of Hamas and the World (CNRS Editions, 2015). She co-directed, with Jihane Sfeir, Arab political writings: an anthology from the Mashreq to the Maghreb in the 20th centurye century (CNRS Editions, 2022).
Where are the talks on the Gaza truce proposed in late April by Qatar, Egypt and the United States? Can it have a chance of becoming a permanent ceasefire?
Israel continues to use the negotiations file to achieve other objectives: to prolong its aggression against Gaza and impose its attack on Rafah. Benjamin Netanyahu has in fact kept repeating that no agreement will prevent him from continuing his offensive. Joe Biden’s new proposal nevertheless complicates things since Mr. Netanyahu faces not only an increase in American pressure, but also threats of resignations, both within the war cabinet and within the government. The resignations of Bezalel Smotrich and Ben Gvir would lead to early elections and the departure of Benjamin Netanyahu.
The question is therefore not whether Hamas accepts the agreement or not, but rather whether the Israeli government is prepared to accept it. The irony is that this plan, marketed by Joe Biden and presented as “Israeli”, was refused by Israel where Hamas claimed that it contained positive points. Its Israeli version presented a few days later to Hamas by Qatar was modified, no longer guaranteeing a permanent ceasefire.
This article is taken from “Special Issue Le Monde: 40 maps to understand the Israel-Palestine conflict”July 2024, on sale at kiosks or online by going to on our store website.
Almost a year after October 7, where is the Palestinian cause internationally and regionally?
The Abraham Accords signed between Israel and several Arab countries in August 2020 posed a real threat to the Palestinians. One of the stated objectives of October 7 was precisely to call them into question and to impose Palestine as a central issue.
On a regional scale, the war in Gaza is reshaping an opposition between, on the one hand, the countries favorable to “normalization” with Israel and, on the other hand, Iran’s allies. The nuisance capacity of these actors testifies to the importance of Iran as a power with which we must deal. This is also the case since Saudi Arabia moved closer to
Tehran in the spring of 2023, thus initiating a détente in the Gulf that Israel could break.
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