Agree on new economic and defense agreements. Security guarantees in the region and the possibility of supporting Saudi Arabia in the development of its own nuclear program. These are some of the promises of the United States to Riyadh, in an attempt to achieve a historic agreement to normalize relations between its two main allies in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

But months of direct and indirect talks between the three appear to have stalled since October 7, when a Hamas attack on Israel sparked a new war and bombings in the Gaza Strip.. Although Riyadh has not publicly admitted that the rapprochement has been frozen, several officials in the country have communicated it to international news agencies.

“Saudi Arabia has decided to suspend the debate on possible normalization and has informed US officials,” one of the diplomatic sources told AFP.. Saudi and US sources have confirmed that Washington pressured Riyadh to condemn the Hamas attack, but the Arab country abstained.. This distancing represents a fiasco for the United States, which is trying to normalize relations with its ally Israel, in a region where the Palestinian cause remains an important issue.

For his part, the US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, rejected that the talks were “on hold” and assured that the three countries are focused on the most immediate challenges.. The Saudi monarchy has never recognized Israel and did not make a gesture of joining the 2020 Abraham Accords, negotiated by the United States, in which several Arab countries such as Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates or Morocco normalized relations with Israel.. However, after months of diplomatic work, Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman noted a month ago that “every day they are closer” to an agreement with Israel, although he insisted that the Palestinian issue seemed “important” to him.. “We need to solve that part. “We need to make life easier for Palestinians.”. The war between Israel and Hamas has forced Riyadh to rethink its most immediate foreign policy priorities.. The country, home to Mecca and Medina, the holiest sites for Muslims, exerts great influence on the region and Muslims around the world.

Since the outbreak of war, Riyadh has attempted to deescalate the escalation of tension between Israel and Hamas.. This Sunday he received a visit from the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, who described the meeting as “very productive”, on his tour of six Arab countries and Israel to reduce tensions in the region.. Bin Salman also discussed the war with Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi. It was the first call between the two leaders after their countries announced the normalization of relations after seven years of lack of communication.

Bin Salman expressed the kingdom's “opposition to any form of attack against civilians and the loss of innocent lives” and reiterated Riyadh's “unwavering stance in defending the Palestinian cause,” the monarchy's statement said.. Saudi Arabia also criticized Israel's order to evacuate the northern Gaza Strip, causing the displacement of more than a million “defenseless civilians,” it denounced in its harshest statement since the start of the war.

The war in Gaza seems to have frustrated this diplomatic rapprochement that worried several actors in the region. Mainly to Iran, Israel's enemy that has ties to the Hamas group and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite group that has a political arm and an armed one.. It also raises questions about whether the United States can ignore the Palestinian issue in its attempt to help Israel improve its relations with countries in the region.

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, has called this Saturday night an emergency meeting of the heads of State and Government of the 27 to address the situation in Gaza and the risks to continental security.. It will be next Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. and by videoconference, just a week before the leaders meet again in Brussels for a regular Summit. “Nothing justifies Hamas' brutal terrorist attacks against Israel. We stand in full solidarity with the people of Israel. Israel has the right to defend itself in full respect of international law. The unfolding tragedy has many consequences for Europe. That is why I have called an extraordinary European Council by videoconference to establish a common position and a clear and unified line of action,” he explained in a message in a statement..

The text may seem generic, standard, but it is not.. In those few sentences there are three crucial elements, loaded with meaning, full of reproaches and that summarize the chaos of the last seven days in Brussels, the enormous anger of many governments with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the quarrels between those responsible for the three main community institutions.

In his message, Michel first condemns the savage massacre perpetrated by Hamas, an organization considered terrorist by the EU, and emphasizes that Israel has the right to defend itself.. There are no doubts, hesitation or nuances, something that absolutely everyone in the EU agrees on. From there, the problems.

The second message is exactly the one that follows, when it emphasizes that this defense must fully respect international law.. It might seem obvious, but it has been the great topic of discussion in Brussels, because the president of the Commission, in an unprecedented case, has acted for days almost completely alone, without coordinating with the capitals, with Michel himself and with its high representative for Foreign Policy, the Spanish Josep Borrell. But above all, he has tried to rewrite, on the fly and on his own, the position of the Union.

Von der Leyen has written and spoken time and again about the bloodthirsty attack and the right and “duty” of Israel's response to “protect its citizens”, giving it what everyone has interpreted, in its team and in the rest of the buildings from the Belgian capital, carte blanche. It was not a mistake, a slip. He has maintained his position, with hardly any mention of the Palestinians, the situation in Gaza and, above all, international law until this very Saturday.. And not from his office, but he traveled to Israel on Friday, together with the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, to meet with President Isaac Herzog, who the day before had flatly stated that all the inhabitants of Gaza had a responsibility in the current situation, dismissing calls from the international community not to collectively punish two million people for the actions of Hamas.

Von der Leyen has also gone against the message of the foreign ministers of the 27, who this week, also by videoconference, addressed the situation. Borrell, on their behalf, stressed that international law had to be respected, asked that water, electricity or internet not be cut off, and that humanitarian corridors be opened. The German has said none of that throughout the week, not even when the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, asked for “proportionality” from his great ally, or when the German Foreign Minister herself has insisted that those who ” separates us from terrorists” is “the protection of civilians”. Even his own party, the European Popular Party, drew a very clear line in the face of his silence..

Only this Saturday, in a statement to announce that humanitarian aid to Gaza will be tripled to 75 million euros urgently, has he made reference to the need for the Israeli military response to adhere to the rules of law.. It is revealing of her positioning that this money had already been agreed upon for days, and that the plan was to make the announcement when she was in the area, although only on the Israeli side, for obvious reasons.. But she, given that she was showing her total solidarity and support for the Israeli leaders and visiting the areas of the kibbutz massacre, chose not to say anything and delay the announcement, which she reported on social networks and in a statement..

Establish a common position

Charles Michel alludes to all these actions in his message when he summons the leaders “to establish a common position and a clear and unified line of action.”. That is, to call the president to order and make clear what the position of the Union is, not of a leader who a few months ago irritated the governments by signing on her own, without waiting for the green light from the ministers, a migration agreement with Tunisia. And it has been raised in Israel almost competing with the Maltese Metsola, president of the European Parliament, the first international leader who visited Kiev last year after the Russian invasion and who also aspires to occupy the position of president of the Commission if the circumstances arise. were propitious.

“The tragic scenes unfolding in the Gaza Strip as a result of the siege and the lack of basic needs, combined with the destruction caused by major bombings, are raising alarm bells in the international community,” says Michel in his statement in the harshest language yet from Europe. “The Union has always been and must be a firm defender of peace and respect for international law, as in the case of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. The Union must work to provide humanitarian assistance and avoid a regional escalation of the conflict and any violation of humanitarian law,” adds the Belgian..

Michel has the Palestinians in mind, he takes into account the many calls he has received these days from all the capitals. But it also takes the opportunity to settle scores in its perpetual struggle with Von der Leyen. The president of the Commission, whom Joe Biden wants as the next Secretary General of NATO, is without a doubt the most visible figure on the continent, probably the strongest president there has ever been, or at least in the last 20 years, and has become an uncomfortable rival more than a colleague or social partner for Michel, who now sees his opportunity. The most childish example of their perpetual friction is how this week the German's communications team deliberately cut Michel from a photo in which he appeared alongside Von der Leyen and Metsola in an act of repudiation of the attack in front of the European Parliament..

But having said all that, Michel also heeds the warning calls for purely strategic reasons from governments. “The conflict could have important consequences for the security of our societies. If we are not careful, we have the potential to exacerbate tensions between communities and fuel extremism. Finally, there is a significant risk of migration and displacement of large numbers of people to neighboring countries that already have a significant number of refugees in their territory.. If it is not handled carefully, there is a risk of waves of migration to Europe,” he highlights, pointing out what the Member States really fear right now.

The conclusions of the Agranat Commission, created in Israel to investigate the lack of preparation and prevention of the military and political leadership to the surprise attack by Egypt and Syria that led to the war of 1973, did not point to Prime Minister Golda Meir. However, he assumed responsibility for the national trauma and the number of victims and resigned several months later.

50 years later, many wonder whether the commission of inquiry into the glaring error in Israel's defense of the Gaza border will target the government, the army or both.

While the top military official, Herzi Halevi, has admitted that they did not fulfill their obligation to defend the citizens on the fateful morning of Saturday the 7th, Benjamin Netanyahu has not commented on his share of responsibility in not preventing the worst attack in history From Israel. Only the head of the Government's Security Council, Tsaji Hanegbi, intoned this Saturday the mea culpa for having believed, like many others, that Hamas preferred to remain calm.

Since his return to power after the November elections, Netanyahu has faced massive protest demonstrations for 40 consecutive weeks against his ultra-conservative coalition's judicial reform plan.. But the massacres in the kibbutzim have shocked Israelis and have put an end to protests, although they have created others such as those of some relatives of kidnapped people.

On the right, they regret that Netanyahu did not fulfill his electoral promise in 2008 to “overthrow the Hamas terrorist regime in Gaza”. Bibi allowed its consolidation either because the alternative was worse (anarchy) or because it contributes to Palestinian division, thus burying the possibility of an agreement with President Abu Mazen based on the two-state solution.

On the left, Netanyahu's opposition has criticized him for years for the corruption trial, for his “role in the division of the country and hatred of the left,” and for his last government and the judicial plan.. “Netanyahu has shown zero leadership and zero responsibility. Until he accepts failure, he does not deserve my trust,” said former officer Noam Tibon, who, by the way, rescued people with his car during the Hamas attack.

The Government also receives criticism for its bureaucratic slowness and failures to deal with a crisis of unprecedented magnitude with thousands of dead, injured, kidnapped and a war.. The Hamas attack has strongly hit Netanyahu's great banner with which he would have overcome the internal crisis in the short term and, in the long term, enter history: the agreement to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia. Whether or not it was one of the objectives of the Iranian-backed Palestinian group, the war has caused Riyadh to freeze its rapprochement with Israel.

On Friday, a poll by the newspaper Maariv showed a drop of 9 seats for Netanyahu compared to the one recorded before the Hamas attack while the centrist leader Benny Gantz reaches 41 seats from 29 a week earlier.. Gantz has joined the war emergency cabinet.

Exactly one week after the Hamas attack that has brought new winds of war to the entire region, Israel is preparing for a ground offensive in the second phase of its massive retaliation for the multiple and lethal infiltration that caused 1,300 deaths. Before the tanks and armored cars enter Gaza territory, Israeli air pressure on the fundamentalist group is causing enormous punishment in the Gaza Strip. This Saturday the evacuation from north to south continued in the Palestinian enclave which, once again, will have to deal with reconstruction in a few weeks, at best, or months after a large-scale operation that has caused at least 2,200 dead.

“The operational plans include a combined and coordinated attack by air, land and sea,” warned military spokesman Daniel Hagari, prioritizing reaching “the ringleaders and those responsible for Hamas and especially for the terrible terrorist attacks.”. On his first visit to the razed Kibbutz Beeri, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with soldiers, telling them: ''Are you ready to take the next step? The time is coming''. The proclamation of the conservative president, dressed in a bulletproof vest, was broadcast in a video by his cabinet.

Hamas, for its part, warned that for years it has been preparing for the invasion of its enemy while its armed wing continued to launch projectiles against central and southern Israel.

The clock of the eighth day of the worst war in memory between the Palestinian militias and Israel set the key moment this Saturday at four in the afternoon. The time at which the new deadline given by the Israeli army for northern Gazans to head south through two corridors (the Saladin road and the sea road) towards Wadi Gaza ended.

According to the UN, tens of thousands decided to head south while the army estimates the evacuees at around half a million.. “If you care about your safety, go south. The army will allow them safe passage. The Hamas leaders worry only about themselves and are in shelters,” said the Israeli official in charge of communicating in Arabic with the Palestinians, Avichai Adraee, who denounced: “Hamas tries to prevent the evacuation of civilians that it uses as human shields. in their attacks.”

But many refused to leave their homes.. Either because fleeing to the south does not provide security guarantees, given that there is no safe place in the Palestinian Strip, because they do not want to become displaced again, because of pressure from Hamas or because they still believe that Israel will not launch a major ground offensive.

And, in this context, a convoy of Palestinian civilians leaving northern Gaza along one of the designated routes was attacked by Israel this Saturday, leaving more than a dozen dead, including children between two and five years old.

The Hamas Government in Gaza denounced “indiscriminate attacks and massacres of the civilian population” including during the evacuation and asked “not to fall into Zionist propaganda.”

“Hamas's objective is to have civilians killed in Gaza, while hiding the number of terrorists killed, so that Israel is condemned by the international community and puts pressure on them,” added another Israeli spokesman.

UN condemnation

The UN reiterated its strong condemnation from a moral and operational point of view of the mass evacuation, especially of Gaza City, where some 400,000 inhabitants reside and where hospitals are treating as best they can the growing and high number of wounded waiting for foreign help. According to the UN, 270,000 Palestinians are in their shelters.

“Even wars have rules,” warned the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, recalling that international humanitarian law and human rights laws must be defended and respected: “Civilians must be protected at all times and never used as shields,” he emphasized.

The closure of the six accesses to the Strip, including Rafah (Egypt), with the consequent lack of electricity and water supply, heightens the drama that the civilian population is going through.

Egypt shielded its border crossing due to fear of an avalanche of Palestinians in the face of bombs and calls from Israel, which, together with the United States, is pressuring it to open the doors allowing the exit from Gaza.. “You must be strong in your land,” told them the president of Egypt, Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, who organizes humanitarian aid convoys but refuses to make the Sinai the destination for the displaced.

The US fully supports Israel in the war but has asked it to do everything possible to avoid both the death of civilians – or minimize their number – and a humanitarian crisis.. He also told his nationals in Gaza that “if they see that it is safe enough, they should approach the Rafah crossing.”

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya assures that “there is no emigration from the West Bank or Gaza nor is there emigration from Gaza to Rafah. “I tell our brothers that the decision to stay in our land is ours.”

Before launching its offensive on the ground, Israel continued its bombing and announced the death of two high-ranking officials in the Hamas military organization who, according to Israeli Intelligence, were key in the 7-O attack: the head of the air unit, Murad Abu Murad, and Nukba commando chief Ali Qadi. The latter was arrested in 2005 for the murder of an Israeli and released in 2011 along with 1,026 other prisoners in the exchange for soldier Gilad Shalit.

126 hostages

Hamas now intends to carry out a new exchange with the 126 people it has in its hands together with Islamic Jihad, according to an Israeli military spokesman. The kidnapped people are his bargaining chip, which he always promised to achieve although he never imagined there would be so many, a measure to try to stop Israel's attacks.. The armed wing of Hamas announced the death of nine kidnapped people by bombs. If all his announcements in this regard are confirmed, the number of dead kidnapped people would be 26.

“It does not benefit Hamas to have so many babies, children, women and the elderly among those kidnapped.”. It is something that violates all known rules,” says former Mossad head Yossi Cohen, recruited to deal with the thorny and complex issue of the kidnapped people.. After citing the close relationship of the Iranian regime with Hamas translated into weapons, knowledge or money, he was asked on Channel 12 if he believes that what happened now has traces of Iran. “Without a doubt,” he replied.

As in previous escalations, Hamas spokesmen abroad – as well as the spokesman for the armed wing in Gaza, Abu Oveida – are the most vocal since the leadership in Gaza is aware that the slightest error of precaution, a missile Israeli will finish them off. After the testimonies and images of rapes, murders and beheadings, the main Hamas leaders abroad are in Israel's crosshairs even if they are in Beirut, Damascus or Tehran.

Like almost all the previous days of the war, Hezbollah and Israel staged a new confrontation this Saturday in a dynamic that could break the balance of mutual deterrence established since the 2006 war.. In the early hours of Saturday, Hezbollah launched two drones against the city of Haifa, which were intercepted, and subsequently fired 30 mortar shells at Israeli military targets in the disputed Sheba Farms area.. Israel responded by attacking positions of the Shiite group.

Although hidden by the monumental shadow of southern Israel and Gaza and the exchanges of fire on the Israeli-Lebanese border, the West Bank is also in effervescence. Several dozen Palestinians have died in armed clashes or riots with Israeli security forces who in the early hours of Friday carried out a new massive raid that included two Hamas leaders, Adnan Asfour and Ahmed Awad.

With parts of southern Israel evacuated by Palestinian shells and still burying their dead, Gaza under lockdown, bombs, death and the threat of a ground offensive, the war is approaching a new and uncertain phase.