Israeli mediator and peace activist Gershon Baskin warned on Oct. 15 of the immediate danger of Israel’s undermining the peace agreement, and suggested that “Israel must be warned to cease and desist immediately because these actions can escalate into the renewal of warfare.” Both in his interview with Germany’s DW News and in his own Substack, he succinctly exposed Israel’s provocation:
“I don’t believe that Hamas is ‘playing’ with the issue of returning the bodies of Israeli hostages, as Israel is accusing them. The transference of a body which is not one of the hostages is not part of a scheme by Hamas to dupe Israel. There are objective difficulties. In addition to there not being a forensic laboratory in Gaza, almost all of the Hamas commanders who were responsible for the bodies were killed by Israel. Additionally, there are thousands of unaccounted-for Gazans who are presumed to be buried underneath the rubble of buildings that Israel bombed. It is more than likely that there are Israelis who may also be buried underneath the rubble. Furthermore, Hamas has physical control over only 50% of Gaza and there may be bodies in the areas where Israel still has control.”
He reported that three of the countries—Qatar, Egypt and Türkiye—are already in Gaza “to ensure that Hamas is making 100% effort in searching for the bodies…. As long as the international presence assisting Hamas testifies that Hamas is trying to find the bodies, the accusations of Hamas breaching the agreement need to be shut down.” If they judge Hamas is acting in bad faith, they are equipped to impose penalties on Hamas.
However, the U.S. needs to quickly investigate Hamas’ charges of Israeli violations—"the killing of Palestinians and the kidnapping of others” and firing “with tanks and drones on Palestinians in Gaza”—and “Israel must be warned to cease and desist immediately because these actions can escalate into the renewal of warfare.”
