Burns Works for Last Minute Rescue of Rafah

May 7—America’s most able diplomat, CIA Director William Burns, may yet pull a rabbit out of a hat and bring home a ceasefire/hostage deal that will prevent Israel’s deranged Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu from unleashing a slaughter of innocent women and children and other civilians in an assault by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Rafah, the last city still standing in Gaza.

Sources familiar with the delicate and often rough (in the case of the Israelis) negotiations say that there is a “decent chance” that, despite Bibi’s best efforts at sabotage, a deal may emerge from talks that will take place later today in Cairo, talks that Burns forced an Israeli delegation to attend over the objections of Netanyahu.

Burns had flown to Israel after getting the Hamas leadership in Doha to accept a phased ceasefire/hostage deal, knowing full well that Bibi would reject its terms. Among Bibi’s targets, sources say, were the idea that Hamas, in the first phase of the deal, would also return the remains of some hostages who had died in their captivity along with the release of all women, children, elderly, and sick. Addressing another sticking point was language Burns came up with for the object of the second phase in the deal: that both parties would work for a “sustainable calm,” which substituted for “end to the war” or a “permanent ceasefire,” neither of which Netanyahu has said he would ever agree to.

“The real change that brought Hamas on board, despite the vague language,” said a source, “was that Burns assured them, perhaps directly, if not through Egyptian and Qatari intermediaries, that the United States would guarantee that if Hamas abided by the terms of the agreement, hostilities would cease, and Burns reiteration of America’s commitment to see the establishment of a Palestinian state, no matter what Netanyahu and his government says.

“When he heard about the deal, Bibi went into orbit. Asserting that Hamas was committing deception and that Israel would never agree to these terms, he pushed through the war cabinet a vote authorizing the attack on Rafah. knowing that it was not Hamas or the other Arabs that came up with this deal, but Burns.”

“‘Mr. Burns,’ as Bibi calls him, then told the Israelis—and I mean more than just Bibi—that if he launched a full attack on Rafah, blowing up this peace deal, the United States would see to it that a number of things would be made public, including that the U.S. had warned the Israelis that the plans the Israelis had obtained for Hamas’ attack that ultimately took place Oct. 7, were credible and that such an attack would take place that fall; Bibi has claimed that he had no reliable estimates that said Hamas had the capability to carry out such an attack.. Also, that the U.S. has intelligence on the number of hostages that Israel’s assault on Gaza has killed; and that Bibi, through his personnel interventions, has blocked at least two workable hostage deals, thus making him personally responsible for their deaths.

“For the final blow,” the source continued, “Burns let it be known that the International Criminal Court (ICC) were likely to issue a warrant for Bibi in the days ahead. “And if he blows up this latest deal, and goes on a killing rampage in Rafah, and were he to come to the U.S. to speak to Congress (he has been invited by the Christian Zionist Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA)), the Biden Administration would not prevent the warrant being served. Bibi is furious, but he is nevertheless sending a delegation to Cairo.”

Meanwhile, the assault on Gaza, which began Monday evening, so far appears to be limited in scope and targets, which the IDF says is part of its strategy to allow civilians to get out, and also to put pressure on Hamas to agree on a deal acceptable to Netanyahu.

So, today’s talks in Cairo may yet have a chance to succeed. Many lives of innocents depend on that success.

Our source brought up another point: Rage is building within sections of the Israeli elite, who want to see the war ended. In the end, any combination of forces could move to bring down this government.

“There is a limit to the tyrant’s power,” the source concluded. “Regardless of what happens with a ceasefire and in Rafah, the time has come to send Bibi packing. Does someone like Benny Gantz (the opposition leader who is in the war cabinet) have the guts to do it? They haven’t so far.”