US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has described his government’s proposed new “ceasefire deal” for Gaza as being agreed upon by Israel. Blinken, who has visited Israel for talks at least nine times since October 7, has stated that Hamas’s refusal to sign the deal is all that is preventing a ceasefire from being put in place rapidly.

But arguably this can be seen as deeply misleading. In reality, the so-called deal appears to be neither a ceasefire nor a deal. Instead, it is so heavily weighted in favour of Israel’s political goals and military objectives that it would amount to a capitulation by the Palestinians of Gaza to a new reality that would leave them under even greater control and occupation than what has been imposed on them for the best part of two decades. 

Yet despite this, according to Israeli media reporting of comments by Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, Israel is still refusing to agree the deal — reporting completely at odds with the claims of the US government spokespeople and the Democrats, the US party of government.