The Biden administration in Washington – where hope springs eternal, especially in the lead-up to a national election – is finally coming close to pronouncing the ceasefire negotiations dead.
The big question is what comes next.
Protesters and striking workers in Israel brought the country to a standstill after the bodies of six captives were recovered by the military from a tunnel in southern Gaza on Saturday.
Israeli authorities said that the captives, who include a US citizen, had been shot and killed at a close distance mere days before their bodies were found.
Days earlier, a Palestinian citizen of Israel captured in a kibbutz on 7 October was found alive in a tunnel not far from where the six slain captives were later recovered. The body of another dead captive had recently been recovered in a different area.
The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, appeared to confirm that the six found on Saturday had been executed by its fighters – or at least they were content to give that impression. ….more
