Hamas’s decision is “tragic” but predictable, according to Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli diplomat.
“Netanyahu indicated, before his trip to Washington, that he does not have any intentions of moving on to phase two [of the ceasefire deal],” Pinkas told Al Jazeera, speaking from Tel Aviv.
“The moment he made it clear that he has no intention of moving to phase two, that put into question phase one … Then he went to Washington and stood by President Trump, who came up with this Gaza Riviera idea that includes expelling 2.3 million Palestinians.
“Fast forward to today, in an interview on Fox News, [Trump] said that [Palestinians] will not be able to return to Gaza.”
Pinkas said the reaction in Israel to Hamas’s decision is anger directed at Prime Minister Netanyahu. “I would not be surprised to see a very intense, very angry, very broad pushback against Netanyahu in the next 24 hours.”
The former diplomat added far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir’s response – to start up the war again and “destroy” Gaza – should not be taken seriously now that he is out of the government.
Ben-Gvir resigned last month as a result of the Hamas-Israel ceasefire agreement coming into effect.
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