State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller on Monday said, “I can tell you that the Secretary is meeting with Israel’s Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer later today here at the State Department, where he is going to continue to express the position of the United States that we need to get a ceasefire. We need to see the hostages released. We need to implement plans for the day after that would allow or would establish governance, security, and reconstruction inside Gaza, and that ought to be an urgent priority not just for the United States – not just for other countries in the region, but for Israel as well.”
Naturally, Miller neglected to mention that in forty-some days, the Secretary of State would no longer be involved in Gaza, or Israel, or the day before or after, because he is going to be replaced by one Marco Rubio, President Donald Trump’s appointee, whose views on Gaza and Israel are radically different, in favor of Israel.
In other words, everything Secretary Antony Blinken may have to say to Minister Dermer is meaningless unless he launches yet another shameless attack in the form of an embargo on munitions to Israel, or joining a UNSC resolution that subjects Israel to a potential ban around the world.
This is why it was such a relief to read President-elect Donald J. Trump’s tweet on Monday, offering a simple and forceful declaration:
“Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East – But it’s all talk and no action! Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity. Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”
Gov. Mike Huckabee, soon to take over as US ambassador to Jerusalem, noted: “This is my President! There must be serious consequences for holding any hostage but America needs to exact severe consequences for kidnapping and murdering AMERICAN hostages.”
Israel will need the US’ strong backing in dealing with the day after in the Gaza Strip. Lebanese and Saudi media outlets reported on Tuesday that Fatah and Hamas reached agreements on the establishment of a social support committee that will manage civilian life in the Gaza Strip the day after the war – under the authority of the Palestinian Authority. Such a renewed brotherly love between bands of terrorist murderers would have received the Biden administration’s support. We count on the Trump administration not to let it become a reality.
The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, on Tuesday reported that Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aati is trying to promote new “day-after” solutions in Gaza: an almost complete Israeli withdrawal from the Strip, and “Palestinian” management of the Strip together with an Israeli presence, in a way that avoids friction with the terrorist organizations.
Abdel Aati made these remarks during his meetings with senior European officials. In addition, Al-Akhbar claimed that Egypt had also intensified its talks with the Biden administration and with possible senior officials in the Donald Trump administration, as part of efforts to promote an approach – formulated and implemented by senior Egyptian intelligence officials – that would include Egyptian supervision of the methods of entry and distribution of humanitarian aid within the Gaza Strip.
Al-Akhbar’s sources also stressed that coordination is taking place between Egypt and the United Arab Emirates on the matter – and a diplomatic and security delegation from the Emirates may visit Israel in an attempt to bring about a breakthrough on the matter.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich responded to Trump’s tweet, saying:
“Thank you very much, Mr. President-elect! How refreshing it is to hear clear and morally sound statements that do not create a false equivalence or call for addressing ‘both sides,’ but rather clarify who is good and who is bad, where the light is and where the darkness lies.
“This is the way to bring back the hostages: by increasing the pressure and the costs for Hamas and its supporters, and defeating them, rather than giving in to their absurd demands.”
One would hope.
