Diplomacy’s lowest point: how the Israel-Gaza conflict was mishandled

[Right_in_Virginia]

Diplomacy’s lowest point: how the Israel-Gaza conflict was mishandled
The Guardian/UK, Oct 7, 2025

George Mitchell, the great US advocate for the Northern Ireland peace agreement, described diplomacy as 700 days of failure and one of success. In Gaza, tragically, there have been 730 days of failure and none of success. Indeed, the destruction, the death toll and the spillover of the conflict into other countries is a monument to shame diplomacy and what remains of international law. Arguably, it is the profession’s lowest point since 1939.

Some will claim failure is inevitable since this conflict is now so embedded and impervious to compromise that it can only be settled at the barrel of the gun, in essence through the repression or erasure of one side.

Yet, however entrenched the mutual hatreds, a consensus is building across the west that this conflict was desperately mishandled, including by European leaders who initially ceded responsibility to a US Democratic administration that romanticised modern Israel, misread how its government might react to the horror of 7 October – and how that would polarise the west.

[...]

At its most generous, the Democrats misread the power dynamics. “We did not act like a superpower,” Andrew Miller, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli-Palestinian affairs, said recently. “Instead of beginning from the proposition that these were problems we could solve, we persuaded ourselves that there was little we could do to move our regional ally Israel.”

Trump did not have that inferiority complex. He used his unpredictability as his greatest diplomatic weapon but, like Biden, his special envoy Steve Witkoff became bogged down in trying to find a formula that guaranteed the release of all the hostages without Israel resuming the fighting, as it did in March this year.

As successive variations of the Witkoff proposals emerged, France and Saudi Arabia took matters into their own hands, deciding to use a UN conference on a two-state solution as a vehicle for gripping the diplomacy in a different way. The US monopoly on the peace process was broken and the neglected issue of Palestinian self-rule was finally addressed.


More:  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/07/diplomacy-lowest-point-how-the-israel-gaza-conflict-was-mishandled

[Right_in_Virginia]

FTA

In reference to the US’s over-reliance on Israeli firepower to impose its will, the diplomat said: “We also convinced them they could not go on rolling the dice and thinking it will come up double six.”

Critical to the process was a meeting in the White House in late August where Jared Kushner, Tony Blair and Witkoff convinced Trump that mass expulsions of Palestinians from Gaza was neither necessary nor wise.

One of those present said: “Trump had no illusions about Netanyahu’s reliability and had invested in the Middle East states. He was persuaded that for states such as Jordan and Egypt the spectre of waves of Palestinian refugees spilling over their borders was a red line. Trump agreed to take mass enforced displacement off the agenda.”

[Right_in_Virginia]

FTA

The Trump plan, largely prepared by Blair and Kushner, was necessarily thin, ambiguous and stripped of a timetable. The Arab states had misgivings, but advocates such as Blair argued that if the plan was more specific it would lose the required broad support and critical momentum. The lack of immediate leaks delighted western diplomats since it suggested the Arab states thought they could work with the plan.

But while the Arab states left New York, Netanyahu stayed in New York, holding two lengthy weekend meetings with Witkoff. After Israel’s attack on Hamas negotiators in Qatar on 9 September – a personal betrayal of Witkoff and Qatar – Netanyahu was persona non grata in the White House. Yet the Israeli prime minister extracted further concessions.

The amnesty to Hamas members was only available to those who handed over weapons in front of international observers and committed to peaceful coexistence. More detail was added about the destruction of Hamas infrastructure. Moreover, the withdrawal of Israel Defense Forces was blurred, and by the end the IDF would have to withdraw only to a security buffer zone encompassing more than 17% of Gaza until the strip “is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat”.

The process for this withdrawal “will be carried out according to criteria, and with a timeframe, to be agreed upon between the IDF, the international stabilisation force, the guarantors and the United States”.

After the plan’s publication, Netanyahu in a video message assured his domestic audience that Israel’s red lines were protected: Gaza separated from the West Bank, no return by the PA to Gaza, no path toward a “two-state solution” and no removal of Israel security forces from the majority of the Gaza Strip.

In trying to assuage the extremists in his coalition, Netanyahu was also doing all he could to persuade Hamas to reject the plan, so he could pursue the military offensive into Gaza City.

[DefiantMassRINO]

If we can deport Salvadorans to Uganda, why not deport Gazans to Yemen? ... from one $h!th0le to another.

Let Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates keep them in-line.  Both are already involved in Yemen because of Iran's proxy, the Houthis.

[Right_in_Virginia]

If we can deport Salvadorans to Uganda, why not deport Gazans to Yemen? ...

You honestly don't see a difference between deporting illegal lawbreakers and tearing people from their 2,000 year ancestral home to clear the way for people of the preferred religion @DefiantMassRINO ?

[DefiantMassRINO]

How can they have lived in their ancestral home for 2,000 years when Islam did come about until 610 A.D.?

So, who occupied those lands in 609 A.D.?  Did the Gazans' ancestors conquer them and steal the land?

Various peoples, religions, and empires have been passing that land back and forth for millennia.

Have the Gazans been tested for DNA markers that would be present if they were descended from the residents of that land 2000 years ago?

The Gazans wouldn't be in this predicament had they not provided aid, comfort, and support to Hamas.

Humans migrate, immigrate, and emigrate.  They bring their languages, cultures, and religions with them, even when bonded in slavery.

Is it moral for Gazans to be ethnically cleansed from Gaza? Nope.  Is it moral for Gazans to murder Israeli's? Nope.  Can Gazans and Israeli's co-exist in Peace?  Probably not.  Walls and fences didn't work.

Something needs to change for things to change.  Which is worse?  More war?  More murder?  Genocide?  Ethnic cleansing?  Unless both sides agree to live in peace with the other, this situation will continue.

There are no perfect solutions.  What can you do with two peoples who hate each other?  Put more distance between them?

[DCPatriot]

How can they have lived in their ancestral home for 2,000 years when Islam did come about until 610 A.D.?

So, who occupied those lands in 609 A.D.?  Did the Gazans' ancestors conquer them and steal the land?

Various peoples, religions, and empires have been passing that land back and forth for millennia.

Have the Gazans been tested for DNA markers that would be present if they were descended from the residents of that land 2000 years ago?

The Gazans wouldn't be in this predicament had they not provided aid, comfort, and support to Hamas.

Humans migrate, immigrate, and emigrate.  They bring their languages, cultures, and religions with them, even when bonded in slavery.

Is it moral for Gazans to be ethnically cleansed from Gaza? Nope.  Is it moral for Gazans to murder Israeli's? Nope.  Can Gazans and Israeli's co-exist in Peace?  Probably not.  Walls and fences didn't work.

Something needs to change for things to change.  Which is worse?  More war?  More murder?  Genocide?  Ethnic cleansing?  Unless both sides agree to live in peace with the other, this situation will continue.

There are no perfect solutions.  What can you do with two peoples who hate each other?  Put more distance between them?

 

[verga]

How can they have lived in their ancestral home for 2,000 years when Islam did come about until 610 A.D.?

So, who occupied those lands in 609 A.D.?  Did the Gazans' ancestors conquer them and steal the land?

Various peoples, religions, and empires have been passing that land back and forth for millennia.

Have the Gazans been tested for DNA markers that would be present if they were descended from the residents of that land 2000 years ago?

The Gazans wouldn't be in this predicament had they not provided aid, comfort, and support to Hamas.

Humans migrate, immigrate, and emigrate.  They bring their languages, cultures, and religions with them, even when bonded in slavery.

Is it moral for Gazans to be ethnically cleansed from Gaza? Nope.  Is it moral for Gazans to murder Israeli's? Nope.  Can Gazans and Israeli's co-exist in Peace?  Probably not.  Walls and fences didn't work.

Something needs to change for things to change.  Which is worse?  More war?  More murder?  Genocide?  Ethnic cleansing?  Unless both sides agree to live in peace with the other, this situation will continue.

There are no perfect solutions.  What can you do with two peoples who hate each other?  Put more distance between them?

[Right_in_Virginia]

How can they have lived in their ancestral home for 2,000 years when Islam did come about until 610 A.D.?

While the Jewish Israelites were enjoying their lives in Eastern Europe for 2,000 years, the non-Jewish Palestinians were doing the same in what would one day be deemed "Israel" by the United Nations.  Regardless of the religion, returning to a land 2,000 years after one's exit creates an interloper.

The Gazans wouldn't be in this predicament had they not provided aid, comfort, and support to Hamas.

Or...some think another way of looking at this unfortunate situation is:  The Gazans wouldn't be in this predicament if Israelis hadn't banished them to the Strip, not annexed the property --- choosing instead to serve as their overlord and control every aspect of their lives for 58 years.   

Something needs to change for things to change.  Which is worse?  More war?  More murder?  Genocide?  Ethnic cleansing?  Unless both sides agree to live in peace with the other, this situation will continue.

There are no perfect solutions.  What can you do with two peoples who hate each other?  Put more distance between them?

Self-determination for both groups. 

The State of Israel has it;  the State of Palestine should be granted the same and integrated into the neighborhood.  It's time.

[Canuck Conservative]

Self-determination for both groups. 

The State of Israel has it;  the State of Palestine should be granted the same and integrated into the neighborhood.  It's time.

Time for what? A terrorist state to be established next to Israel?

You're out of your mind.

There is no "State of Palestine".

[PeteS in CA]

While the Jewish Israelites were enjoying their lives in Eastern Europe for 2,000 years ...

In the real world, Jews were enslaved and dispersed throughout the Roman Empire during the First and Second Jewish-Roman Wars, in the aftermath of the latter, Jews were expelled from Palestine (as the Romans renamed the land) and forbidden to enter Jerusalem. In the real world, Jews in Europe were slaughtered during the First, Second, and Third Crusades. In the real world, Jews were expelled from Western European countries at various times, fleeing to Eastern Europe.

In the real world, Jews in Eastern Europe were restricted in where they could live, e.g. ghettoes in major cities and the Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire (The phrase "Beyond the pale" refers to Jews who contrived to live outside of the pale). In the real world, Jews were periodically subjected to pogroms during the 19th and early 20th century - riots, murders, destruction of homes, destruction of businesses, expulsion from lands. Many Jews enjoyed their lives in Eastern Europe so much that they emigrated to the US in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Time for what? A terrorist state to be established next to Israel?

Of course not.  But, a state for the millions being held captive like cattle would be appropriate and its time has come.

Bring the Palestinians back into the world living under the same rule of law as other nations and return their futures to them.  Give them something to live for, something to work for, something to celebrate beyond sporadic episodes of retaliation against those who robbed them of their homes, their inheritance, their futures and the lives of their loved ones.

Israel is no longer a start-up nation still bleeding from WWII and the Holocaust.  Israel is a fully formed nation with an enviable economy, social safety net, defence and security apparatus, nuclear weapons and a network of strong local and international allies.  Israel should consider moving into the 21st Century and.contributing more than war and the threat of war to the international arena. 

[Smokin Joe]

In the real world, Jews were enslaved and dispersed throughout the Roman Empire during the First and Second Jewish-Roman Wars, in the aftermath of the latter, Jews were expelled from Palestine (as the Romans renamed the land) and forbidden to enter Jerusalem. In the real world, Jews in Europe were slaughtered during the First, Second, and Third Crusades. In the real world, Jews were expelled from Western European countries at various times, fleeing to Eastern Europe.

In the real world, Jews in Eastern Europe were restricted in where they could live, e.g. ghettoes in major cities and the Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire (The phrase "Beyond the pale" refers to Jews who contrived to live outside of the pale). In the real world, Jews were periodically subjected to pogroms during the 19th and early 20th century - riots, murders, destruction of homes, destruction of businesses, expulsion from lands. Many Jews enjoyed their lives in Eastern Europe so much that they emigrated to the US in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

And through it all, the area known as Israel today was never devoid of Jews. Communities persisted there despite the various invasions.

[DefiantMassRINO]

The Gazans got a degree of self-deterimination, and they chose a political party dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the genocide of Jews to govern them.

Furthermore, Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza.  Gazans and Hamas used the security void to build a terrorist infrastructure, that included tunnels and rockets, dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the genocide of Jews ... and maybe the genocide of Christians after once all the Jews are murdered.

Even worse, Gazans and Hamas violated International Law and the Geneva Convention by building terrorist military facilities and weapons depots under schools and hospitals.  This necessitated Israel to target hospitals and schools on the surface to reach Hamas terrorist facilities, terrorists, and materiels hidden under them.

Gazans continue to allow Hamas to use them as Human shields because they have a common political cause - the destruciton of Israel and the genocide of Jews.

If Gazans could differentiate themselves from Hamas by banishing, imprisoning, or killing members of Hamas.  Until Gazans do that, Hamas and Gazan will be viewed the as the same by parties that want peace, stability, prosperity, humanitarian relief, and a better future for Gaza.

As of now, Gaza is a trailer park of Palestinian Arab trash that is being used and manipulated by Iran to destroy Israel for the false promise that the Arab losses of 1947, 1967, and 1973 will be avenged and that they will have self-determination once Israel is destroyed.

Gaza and Gazans, how has that been working out for you since 1947?  Keep making the same mistakes to keep suffering the same consequences for the benefit of Iran, which views Arabs, of all faiths, as inferior, seond-class human beings.

While the Jewish Israelites were enjoying their lives in Eastern Europe for 2,000 years, the non-Jewish Palestinians were doing the same in what would one day be deemed "Israel" by the United Nations.  Regardless of the religion, returning to a land 2,000 years after one's exit creates an interloper.


Or...some think another way of looking at this unfortunate situation is:  The Gazans wouldn't be in this predicament if Israelis hadn't banished them to the Strip, not annexed the property --- choosing instead to serve as their overlord and control every aspect of their lives for 58 years.   


Self-determination for both groups. 

The State of Israel has it;  the State of Palestine should be granted the same and integrated into the neighborhood.  It's time.

[Right_in_Virginia]

In the real world, Jews were enslaved and dispersed throughout the Roman Empire during the First and Second Jewish-Roman Wars, in the aftermath of the latter, Jews were expelled from Palestine (as the Romans renamed the land) and forbidden to enter Jerusalem. In the real world, Jews in Europe were slaughtered during the First, Second, and Third Crusades. In the real world, Jews were expelled from Western European countries at various times, fleeing to Eastern Europe.

In the real world, Jews in Eastern Europe were restricted in where they could live, e.g. ghettoes in major cities and the Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire (The phrase "Beyond the pale" refers to Jews who contrived to live outside of the pale). In the real world, Jews were periodically subjected to pogroms during the 19th and early 20th century - riots, murders, destruction of homes, destruction of businesses, expulsion from lands.

How does any of this    change my theory that returning to a land after a 2,000 year absence makes one a colonist or an interloper; not indigenous? @PeteS in CA

[Right_in_Virginia]

The Gazans got a degree of self-deterimination, and they chose a political party dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the genocide of Jews to govern them.

Furthermore, Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza.  Gazans and Hamas used the security void to build a terrorist infrastructure, that included tunnels and rockets, dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the genocide of Jews ... and maybe the genocide of Christians after once all the Jews are murdered.

Even worse, Gazans and Hamas violated International Law and the Geneva Convention by building terrorist military facilities and weapons depots under schools and hospitals.  This necessitated Israel to target hospitals and schools on the surface to reach Hamas terrorist facilities, terrorists, and materiels hidden under them.

Gazans continue to allow Hamas to use them as Human shields because they have a common political cause - the destruciton of Israel and the genocide of Jews.

If Gazans could differentiate themselves from Hamas by banishing, imprisoning, or killing members of Hamas.  Until Gazans do that, Hamas and Gazan will be viewed the as the same by parties that want peace, stability, prosperity, humanitarian relief, and a better future for Gaza.

As of now, Gaza is a trailer park of Palestinian Arab trash that is being used and manipulated by Iran to destroy Israel for the false promise that the Arab losses of 1947, 1967, and 1973 will be avenged and that they will have self-determination once Israel is destroyed.

Gaza and Gazans, how has that been working out for you since 1947?  Keep making the same mistakes to keep suffering the same consequences for the benefit of Iran, which views Arabs, of all faiths, as inferior, seond-class human beings.

Please, look beyond the propaganda bubble you're in for more information ---- I know you have the intellectual curiosity, I hope you also have the guts.  Warning:  If you do venture out, prepare to be pissed off. 

[Hoodat]

You honestly don't see a difference between deporting illegal lawbreakers and tearing people from their 2,000 year ancestral home to clear the way for people of the preferred religion @DefiantMassRINO ?

That's funny - seeing you use the word 'honestly'.  LOL

[Hoodat]

The Gazans wouldn't be in this predicament had they not provided aid, comfort, and support to Hamas.

Correctamundo.

Here are Gazans gathering en masse in 2017 celebrating their solidarity with Hamas:




This is the same photo that @Right_in_Virginia equated with eighteenth century American patriots protesting against British rule.

[Hoodat]

Of course not.  But, a state for the millions being held captive like cattle would be appropriate and its time has come.

No one is being held captive like cattle.  No one.  Gaza had their shot at being a State.  But they chose war.  Again and again and again and again.  But then you knew that already.  Yet here you are again doing what you do best.  Lie.

Bring the Palestinians back into the world living under the same rule of law as other nations and return their futures to them.

The Palestinians have rejected that.  Repeatedly.  They don't want to live in a world under the same rule of law as other nations.  They have demonstrated this again and again and again.  But then you knew that already.  Yet here you are making the same preposterously false claims.

Give them something to live for, something to work for, something to celebrate

They were given that in 1948.  They traded it all away for war.  They were offered it again in 1993.  They chose war.

In 2005, all remaining Jews left Gaza.  Palestinians handed the responsibility of self rule.  And what is the first thing they did?  Attack Israel.

Gaza's residents don't want something to live for, something to work for.  They only want to kill Jews.  Which is likely why you are so sympathetic towards them.

beyond sporadic episodes of retaliation against those who robbed them of their homes, their inheritance, their futures and the lives of their loved ones.

Still pushing this lie, eh?  Some things never change.  Do you want to talk about how many Jews had their homes and inheritances stolen by Palestinians in 1948?  How many Jews did you find living in Jordan's West Bank or Egyptian-occupied Gaza between 1948 and 1967?

Israel is no longer a start-up nation still bleeding from WWII and the Holocaust.  Israel is a fully formed nation with an enviable economy, social safety net, defence and security apparatus, nuclear weapons and a network of strong local and international allies.  Israel should consider moving into the 21st Century and.contributing more than war and the threat of war to the international arena.

Gaza is the one here choosing war.  If Gaza had chosen peace instead, they wouldn't be getting their asses kicked right now.

[Kamaji]

The House Antisemite must have gotten a bonus in her pay packet yesterday, given the extra helpings of hate and lies she’s been posting overnight. 

[txradioguy]

The State of Israel has it;  the State of Palestine should be granted the same and integrated into the neighborhood.  It's time.

There are no such thing as "Palestinians"...it's made up.  Quit pretending otherwise.  They are Arabs of Jordanian, Syrian and Egyptian heritage.


The "Palestinians" have had their chances at their own country going back to 1948 and have made the conscious decision that killing Jews and killing The Great Satan is more important.

[txradioguy]

The House Antisemite must have gotten a bonus in her pay packet yesterday, given the extra helpings of hate and lies she’s been posting overnight.

She hasn't been this bi of a cheerleader for anything since Trump announced he was running back in 2015.


I will admit though...RiV is consistent...she was for ethnic cleansing 10 years ago as well.  Only back then she he wanted to purge this website of anyone who didn't kiss Trump's ass the way she did.

[txradioguy]

tearing people from their 2,000 year ancestral home to clear the way for people of the preferred religion

"Palestinians" haven't existed for 2000 years...the term "Palestinian" has only been used since 1964.


Oh and Israel isn't their "ancestral home" either.

[verga]

And through it all, the area known as Israel today was never devoid of Jews. Communities persisted there despite the various invasions.

Often while enslaved by the reigning current military government.

[DefiantMassRINO]

Outside the propaganda bubble ...

Sept. 11, 2001, Islamofascists murdered fellow Massholes by flying passenger jets into the World Trade Towers.

2013 Boston Marathon, Islamofascists murdered and maimed more Bostonians and Massholes.  A week or two later, I walked down the sidewalk on Boylston Street where the bombs went off.  I had never seen a city sidewalk so clean in my life.  They pressure washed the pavement to clean the blood and guts off the sidewalk.

Islamofascists - Al Queda, Hamas, etc. - have escalated their jihad to the point of infidels having to fight to defend their right to exist.

I have sympathy for the children of Gaza because they are innocent, powerless, and helpless.  I have no compassion for the adults of Gaza who have chosen murder over peace for decades on end.

As long as Gazans cling to the fantasy of getting their land back from the Israelis, the mess in Gaza will continue.

There wasn't peace in Northern Ireland until the Catholics accepted that they were not going to be able to force the UK and the Protestants out of Ulster.  The Protestants had to accept that they needed to treat Catholics equally.

What was Gaza before 1947?  A League of Nations British Mandate.

What was Gaza before being a British Mandate?  A piece of the Ottoman Empire.

Never before in modern history have residents of Gaza had the opportunity to govern themselves.  They chose poorly when they elected Hamas.

As long as Gazans want to destory Israel, kill Jews, and take back lost lands, they chose to fail.

... being dismissive of the views of others is not debate.  It is capitulation, deflection, and redirection.

Please, look beyond the propaganda bubble you're in for more information ---- I know you have the intellectual curiosity, I hope you also have the guts.  Warning:  If you do venture out, prepare to be pissed off. 

[txradioguy]

Please, look beyond the propaganda bubble you're in for more information

Oh the irony...

[PeteS in CA]

How does any of this    change my theory that returning to a land after a 2,000 year absence makes one a colonist or an interloper; not indigenous? @PeteS in CA

I just pointed out that your claim that Jews "enjoyed" their time in Eastern Europe was ridiculously false.