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During their three-hour “strategic dialogue” talks yesterday in New Delhi, Kerry kept slipping out of the room to make phone calls. So along with the apology to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, he provided an explanation. Disclosing what was then a secret, he said he was closing in on a cease-fire deal between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, according to a U.S. official who asked not to be identified discussing the diplomacy.
Kerry had been toggling all day between global priorities - - seeking to lay a foundation for expanding U.S.-India ties while advancing the push for a three-day humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. At each break in the India meetings, and at times during the sessions, he stepped aside to talk by phone with one or more of the participants in cease-fire negotiations.
Still, it wasn’t until shortly after 2 a.m. today in New Delhi that all the pieces fell into place, and it was then essential to move quickly before something could go awry. A joint statement with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was completed and, at about 2:40 a.m., reporters traveling with Kerry, most asleep at that hour, received calls from a State Department staff member who said a Kerry statement was planned for 3 a.m.
Kerry’s Announcement
A few minutes late, delayed by yet another phone call, Kerry stepped in front of seven reporters and one TV camera.“Good morning, I’m sorry to get you all up at this hour,” he said, before continuing to announce the cease-fire deal that he had been seeking against long odds for two weeks.
Starting at 8 a.m. in Gaza, he said, “the parties are expected to cease all offensive military activities, and neither side will advance beyond its current locations.”
In Gaza, fighting erupted just hours after the cease-fire began, with each side blaming the others for truce violations.
Whether the deal would hold up, and whether it would help spur a resolution of the issues underlying the conflict, were questions for later, U.S. officials had said earlier today.
Kerry said the goal was a “respite” from the fighting that has left more than 1,400 Palestinians and almost 60 Israelis dead since it escalated July 8. During the period, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will head to Cairo for talks aimed at achieving a longer break in the hostilities.
“It’s a moment of opportunity, not an end,” Kerry said. “It’s not a solution, it’s an opportunity to find a solution.”
Israeli Criticism
It was also something of a vindication for Kerry. He had returned home from the Middle East a few days ago without a deal, taking a beating in the Israeli press for actions that some of that country’s politicians and analysts characterized as damaging to Israel and to the prospects of stopping the Gaza conflict.For his part, Kerry bemoaned the “mischievous” reports from some quarters in Israel. Before leaving for India, he said his actions were being mis-characterized and that he would make no apologies for his peacemaking initiatives.
In his comments early today, he made a point of thanking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before mentioning others, such as Ban and the UN’s Mideast envoy, Robert Serry, who were deeply involved over the last two weeks.
Making Calls
“I want to thank Prime Minister Netanyahu, who I know wants to see the people of Israel live in security, free from rockets, free from attacks from tunnels,” Kerry said. “And I know he has worked hard at this. We’ve had many phone calls, sometimes in the middle of the night, and I’m pleased that he thought this moment was an appropriate one to embrace this effort, this cease-fire.”The accord is consistent with the efforts Kerry had been making during the week he operated largely out of Cairo, after heading to the region over advice not to do so from some of his own aides.
Kerry has made more than 100 phone calls in the past week, working around the clock given various time zones, to push toward a deal. President Barack Obama also weighed in with calls to Netanyahu and others, Kerry said.
The efforts proceeded in fits and starts, breaking down and then starting up again, said a second State Department official, who also was permitted to describe the diplomacy only on the basis of anonymity.
Tunnel Destruction
Ideas were floated, and each variation required a new round of talks with all the participants. The 72-hour truce was hit upon as a compromise, the official said, as a 24-hour cease-fire was deemed too short of a window to get substantive talks going, while a longer break appeared politically untenable, he said.While Israel is permitted to continue destroying tunnels that militants have used to carry out attacks on it, the cease-fire will offer a break to the Palestinian civilians in Gaza who have suffered.
“The Palestinians will be able to receive food, medicine, and additional humanitarian assistance, as well as to be able to tend to their wounded, bury their dead, be able to in safe areas travel to their homes, and take advantage of the absence -– hopefully, hopefully -– of violence for these 72 hours,” Kerry said.
Indirect talks are to begin as early as today, with Egyptian officials planning to shuttle between Israelis and a Palestinian delegation made up of representatives of the Palestinian Authority and the militant Gaza Islamist group Hamas. Neither Israel nor the U.S. deals directly with Hamas, which they consider a terrorist organization for its attacks on Israelis and its charter calling for Israel’s destruction.
“My guess is that this will survive the 72 hours, but the possibility of collapsing is still real,” said Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who studies the Middle East.
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