BICOM

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama spoke by phone yesterday following a failed attempt by US Secretary of State to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas over the weekend.

Kerry spent several days in the region, shuttling between Cairo, Jerusalem, Ramallah and elsewhere. However, on Friday he reportedly tabled a draft proposal for a ceasefire which had been negotiated primarily with Qatar and Turkey, Hamas’s favoured interlocutors, effectively side-lining the ceasefire efforts of Egypt which had already been backed by Israel, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and much of the international community. Kerry’s draft reportedly contained only cursory mention of Israel’s security needs and did not tackle the cessation of rocket fire or the dismantling of tunnels used to attack Israel. Israel’s government gave no official response to Kerry’s draft, but Haaretz says that according to Israeli officials, it has been “removed from the table.”

PA President Mahmoud Abbas also reportedly expressed his dismay at Kerry’s initiative, in both a phone conversation with France’s Foreign Minister and in a meeting yesterday with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah.

In the wake of Kerry’s failed efforts, President Obama yesterday telephoned Prime Minister Netanyahu. According to the White House, Obama stressed the “strategic imperative of instituting an immediate, unconditional humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza. He also backed “the disarmament of terrorist groups and the demilitarization of Gaza,” and “underscored the United States’ strong condemnation of Hamas’ rocket and tunnel attacks against Israel and reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself.” At the same time, Obama “reiterated the United States’ serious and growing concern about the rising number of Palestinian civilian deaths.”

Meanwhile, Netanyahu conducted interviews on several major US television networks yesterday, before chairing a security cabinet meeting. He told Fox News that “we’ll do whatever is necessary to achieve our goal, which is to get sustainable quiet.”

This morning, the United Nations Security Council called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, followed by a long-term truce based on Egypt’s original initiative.