The Irish Independent's View: Donald Trump's real power play would be ending brutal war in Gaza
Mahmoud was one of 20 killed in an over night airstrike on a tent encampment.
There should indeed have been a ceasefire.
Everyone knows Hamas started the war, but Tel Aviv's indiscriminate backlash has been disproportionate. Military goals have long been achieved.
Now Mr Trump, who has declared: 'I run the country and the world', has an unrivalled opportunity to prove he's as good as his word, by demanding that the killing stops. The American president has ended the week on a high by seeing his 'Big Beautiful Bill' passed.
Were he to end this inhuman war, it would represent a significant historical achievement.
At the start of the year he was understandably derided for mooting his plan for the United States to 'take over' and rebuild Gaza as the 'Riviera of the Middle East'. He called the territory a 'demolition site' and suggesting that Palestinians would have 'no alternative' but to leave.
Rights groups said the plan to move Palestinians en masse in the midst of war amounted to a forcible transfer, and could constitute a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. Stopping the carnage would also demonstrate that the US need not rely on military might alone.
The world's remaining superpower can show the international community it can also deploy its unique soft power. By aligning 'diplomacy first' with 'America First', and working towards a regional balance, of power that relies primarily on local forces to maintain stability, a sustainable agreement could be achieved.
The US would not then be on the hook to oversee stability. There is an overwhelming moral case for pursuing long-term goals. This includes ending forced occupation and recognising the Palestinian state.
Mr Trump has put down several world leaders, by telling them they have no cards to play. The implication being he holds all the aces. This is surely time to play his hand.
Israeli Defence Forces' chief Eyal Zamir has said the army was approaching the completion of its war aims.
In Gaza, medical workers report rising acute malnutrition among children. Lack of fuel means water desalination plants are not working so there is a threat, of infants dying of thirst. Hospital incubators for struggling newborns are also turned off.
According to Unicef's James Elder, ambulances can not collect the wounded, because they have no diesel. This is apocalyptic. It is incomprehensible that anyone with the ability to bring an end to this hell on earth might choose not do so.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Journal
34 minutes ago
- The Journal
Israeli air strikes kill 33 Palestinians in Gaza as Netanyahu prepares to fly to Washington
AT LEAST 33 PALESTINIANS in Gaza have been killed in Israeli air strikes, hospital officials said, as Israel's military said it had struck more than 100 targets in the embattled enclave in the past day. The fighting came as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was preparing to fly to Washington for talks at the White House aimed at pushing forward ceasefire efforts. US president Donald Trump has floated a plan for an initial 60-day ceasefire that would include a partial release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for an increase in humanitarian supplies allowed into Gaza. The proposed truce calls for talks on ending the 21-month war altogether. Some 20 people were killed and 25 wounded after Israeli strikes hit two houses in Gaza City, according to Mohammed Abu Selmia, the director of Shifa Hospital that services the area. In southern Gaza, 13 Palestinians were killed by strikes in Muwasi, an area on Gaza's Mediterranean where many displaced people live in tents, officials at Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis told The Associated Press. Five of the dead belonged to the same family, according to the hospital. Advertisement Smoke from an Israeli bombardment rises over the Gaza Strip, seen from southern Israel today. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo The Israeli military made no immediate comment on the individual strikes, but said it had struck 130 targets across the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours. It said the strikes targeted Hamas command and control structures, storage facilities, weapons and launchers, and that they had killed a number of militants in northern Gaza. The ministry, which is under Gaza's Hamas government, does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. The UN and other international organisations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties. The strikes occur as efforts to reach a ceasefire deal appeared to gain momentum. Netanyahu's office said his government would send a negotiating team to Qatar on Sunday to conduct indirect talks, adding that Hamas was seeking 'unacceptable' changes to the proposal. The planned talks in Qatar come ahead of Netanyahu's scheduled visit to Washington on Monday to meet Trump to discuss the deal. It is unclear if an agreement will be reached ahead of the Israeli prime minister's White House meeting. Hamas has sought guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Previous negotiations have stalled over Hamas demands of guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war's end, while Netanyahu has insisted Israel would resume fighting to ensure the militant group's destruction.
Sunday World
2 hours ago
- Sunday World
‘We will beat British Government for second time in court' – Kneecap at largest ever gig
The rap trio played in Finsbury Park, London, on Saturday evening as a supporting act for Fontaines D.C Next month will see 'the second time Kneecap have beat the British Government in court', the Irish rap trio said at their largest gig to date. The 45,000-strong crowd in Finsbury Park, London watched them walk on in front of a screen that said 'Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people'. They were supporting Irish band Fontaines DC, whose front man Grian Chatten joined to perform their collaboration Better Way To Live. People echoed the Belfast group's chants when they repeated the 'f*** Keir Starmer' and 'you're just a s*** Jeremy Corbyn' comments made at Glastonbury the previous weekend. Liam Óg O hAnnaidh, who performs as Mo Chara, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court earlier this month charged with a terror offence and will return next month. Fellow member Naoise Ó Cairealláin, who uses the stage name Móglaí Bap, said 'if anyone's free on the 20th of August, you wanna go to the court and support Mo Chara' before shouting 'free Mo Chara, free, free Mo Chara'. Wearing a keffiyeh, Ó hAnnaidh responded: 'I appreciate it, the 20th of August is going to be the second time Kneecap have beat the British Government in court – in their own court, on their own terms, and we're going to beat them for the second time. 'I tell you what, there is nothing like embarrassing the British Government.' Last year Kneecap won a discrimination challenge over a decision by former business secretary Kemi Badenoch to refuse them a £14,250 funding award. The UK Government conceded it was 'unlawful' after the band launched legal action claiming the decision to refuse the grant discriminated against them on grounds of nationality and political opinion. It was agreed that the £14,250 sum would be paid by the Government to the group. During the performance the group intermittently broke off the mosh pits and raucous crowd by addressing the war in Gaza, which is a recurring theme of their shows. The crowd in Finsbury Park (Jeff Moore/PA) Ó hAnnaidh said: 'It's usually around this point of the gig that we decide to talk about what's happening in Palestine. 'I understand that it's almost inhumane that I'm thinking of new things to say on stage during a genocide, for sound bites. 'It's beyond words now, like, we always used to say obviously they're being bombed from the skies with nowhere to go, but it's beyond that now. 'They've been being starved for a few months on end, and not only that, the areas that they have set up, to collect aid and food, have turned into killing fields and they're killing hundreds a day trying to collect food.' He continued: 'It's beyond words, but again, we played in Plymouth last night to 750 people and we did the same thing, so it doesn't matter how big or small our audience is, Kneecap will always use the platform for talking about this.' Ó Cairealláin had said earlier in the show: 'They can try and silence us, they can try and stop us, but we're not going to stop talking about Palestine – as long as there's a genocide happening in Palestine we're going to keep talking about it and yous are going to keep talking about it, and they can't stop us.' Liam Og O Hannaidh (Jeff Moore/PA) 'Kneecap is not the story. Genocide in Gaza is' – Belfast rappers release new video demanding action against Israel The UN human rights office has recorded 613 killings near humanitarian convoys and at aid distribution points in Gaza run by an Israeli-backed American organisation since it began operations in late May. On Friday its spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the rights office was not able to attribute responsibility for the killings, but 'it is clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points' operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The GHF has denied any serious injuries or deaths on its sites and says shootings outside their immediate vicinity are under the purview of Israel's military. The Israeli military has said previously it fires warning shots to control crowds or at Palestinians who approach its troops.
Irish Independent
3 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Israeli air strikes kill 33 Palestinians in Gaza
BREAKING | The Israeli military said it had struck 130 targets across the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours ©Press Association At least 33 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in Israeli air strikes, hospital officials said, as Israel's military said it had struck more than 100 targets in the embattled enclave in the past day. The fighting came as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was preparing to fly to Washington for talks at the White House aimed at pushing forward ceasefire efforts.
