US vetoes cease-fire in Gaza amid potential expanded ground assault
Rafah is bracing for potential Israeli attacks after the U.S. vetoed a U.N.-backed resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh and his government resigned Monday in a move that could signal a willingness by Palestinian leadership to back reforms seen as necessary by the U.S. to revitalize the governing body for a role in the Gaza Strip when the war there eventually ends.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas must still decide whether to accept Shtayyeh and his cabinet’s resignation. Shtayyeh has been in the role since 2019. The Palestinian Authority was ousted from Gaza in a Hamas coup in 2007. It still has administrative control over some parts of the West Bank.
“The next stage and its challenges require new governmental and political arrangements that take into account the new reality in the Gaza Strip,” Shtayyeh said at a cabinet meeting in Ramallah in the West Bank. Abbas is expected to choose Mohammad Mustafa, chairman of the Palestine Investment Fund, as the next prime minister.
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Abbas and his Fatah political party have dominated the Palestinian Authority since 2005. However, many Palestinians, polls show, regard his administration as corrupt, undemocratic and out of touch. Abbas, 88, has not held Palestinian elections since 2006. After U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Abbas late last year he told reporters they discussed reforms to combat corruption, empower civil society and support a free press.
The development comes as talks resumed in Qatar over the weekend with the aim of achieving a weekslong cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Any such cease-fire could see the release of dozens of hostages held in Gaza as well as Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appeared to confirm that a deal is in the works but he has provided no details including when it could be agreed or take effect.
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Israel meanwhile meanwhile is getting closer to expanding its ground offensive against Hamas to Rafah on the Gaza-Egypt border, where more than half the besieged territory’s population of 2.3 million have sought refuge. The United Nations says that Gaza’s population needs hundreds of trucks to enter the enclave each day with humanitarian aid and life-saving supplies. It says that on average 100 trucks a day are getting through.
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed Sunday to step up attacks on Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group even if a cease-fire is reached with Hamas in Gaza. Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with Israeli troops along the border since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7 last year.
Abbas has said he is willing to reform the Palestinian Authority so that Gaza and the West Bank “can be united under Palestinian leadership.” Israel and the U.S. appear to at odds over who, and how, Gaza should be ruled after the war. Netanyahu has said Israel would insist on maintaining a security presence there and that it does not want the Palestinian Authority involved. The Biden administration has indicated there may be no other option.
