A mistaken air strike caused Israel to fire two officials and open more relief lines
Israel's mistaken airstrike on the aid convoy in Gaza made US President Joe Biden seem to lose patience with Tel Aviv. Israel also made moves to relax relief.
According to AFP News Agency, US and Israeli negotiators are expected to be in Cairo this week to promote an agreement with the Islamic movement Hamas.
For months, the United States, Qatar and Egypt have been engaged in behind-the-scenes negotiations to build a ceasefire and exchange hostages in Gaza.
However, these efforts have not made any progress since a week-long ceasefire agreement in November 2023. Meanwhile, Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for hindering negotiations.
"There will be a ceasefire in Gaza today if Hamas agrees to release a group of vulnerable hostages, including sick people, wounded people, elderly people and young women," a Biden administration official said.
This week, in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr. Biden urged the Israeli leader to "fully empower" his country's negotiators to reach an agreement.
Despite supporting Israel from the beginning, Mr. Biden's patience with the war in Gaza seems to be waning, especially after the deaths of seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen organization earlier this week.
"The World Central Kitchen incident has increased political pressure. It clearly shows that Israel does not really make much effort to distinguish between combatants and civilians," researcher James Ryan assessed.
After this "serious mistake", the Israeli army fired the two officials responsible. In addition, Tel Aviv also said it would allow the opening of additional "temporary" aid transport routes to Gaza but did not specify the time. Faced with growing international and domestic outrage, Mr. Biden for the first time warned that he would reassess US support if Israel did not do more to protect civilians.
According to observers, this change caused frustration in both Mr. Biden's Democratic Party and the Republican Party. On April 5, dozens of Democratic lawmakers signed a petition calling on Mr. Biden not to transfer offensive weapons to Israel and to reconsider the new support package. But on the contrary, the Republicans who supported funding Tel Aviv criticized Mr. Biden for going too far.
However, analysts believe that this is only an American tactic. "Mr. Biden always has leverage but will not use it," assessed expert Kenneth Roth of Princeton University, USA.
"Some deaths are much more valuable than others," US researcher Patrick Gaspard said bitterly, comparing the deaths of seven rescue workers to the more than 33,000 Palestinian civilians who died in the past six months.
Australia wants to investigate the air attack on the aid convoy in Gaza
On May 6, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the information Israel provided about the mistaken airstrike on an aid convoy in Gaza was insufficient and that Canberra would appoint a special adviser to investigate the matter. The dead employees included Australian, British, Palestinian, Polish citizens and one person with dual British and Canadian citizenship.
"We believe these deaths are completely inexcusable and clear, practical action is needed to ensure these tragedies are never repeated," Ms. Wong said, emphasizing that Australia wants to address Full reply from Israel.
"This incident cannot be brushed aside or covered up. We hope for complete transparency," the Australian diplomat reiterated.
