Description
"Even before the killing of Haniyeh, in the last couple of days and weeks, the Israeli government, Netanyahu in particular, didn't give the mediators any confidence," said Middle East expert Andreas Krieg, a military analyst and senior lecturer in security studies at King's College London."The killing of Haniyeh, the escalation in Beirut as well, does not suggest Israel is sincerely interested in a ceasefire", he added, referring to the Israeli killing of Hezbollah's military chief in the Lebanese capital on Tuesday.
At the same time, the killings of these and other senior militants present an opportunity for Netanyahu "to build a victory narrative and use this as an opportunity to sincerely enter into ceasefire talks," Krieg said.
"Haniyeh was, in a way, a bridging figure, was pragmatic, wanted to get a deal done... who seemed to be acting in good faith", he added.
Krieg said Haniyeh was "able to unlock some of the difficulties during the mediation process and that could certainly be an asset that has been lost with him being killed".
However, that does not mean "that his killing completely upended any sort of mediation, perhaps not in the short term, but in the medium term."
| Period | 9 Aug 2024 |
|---|---|
| Held at | Agence France Presse |
Keywords
- Haniyeh
- Iran
- Israel
- Gaza