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By John Helmer, Moscow
@bears_with [2]
The clock at the Tass office in Moscow was reading 14:24 on Tuesday afternoon when Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, was reported [3] as saying the following about the Gaza plan of President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and ex-prime minister Tony Blair: “Russia always supports and welcomes any steps by Trump that seek to avert the tragedy that is now unfolding. We want this plan to be realized, so that it may help steer events in the Middle East toward a peaceful path”.
Two hours later, the Tass clock was reading 16:13 when Peskov told [4] the Tass reporter to add: “If you asked me if Russia is involved in this plan [of Trump on the settlement in the Gaza Strip], no, it is not. There were no signals from the American side on this.”
Across the city at the Foreign Ministry, the hands on the clock on Maria Zakharova’s wall had moved to 17:24, when having completed all the required sign-offs, the spokesman published the official Ministry response to the Gaza plan: “Donald Trump’s plan provides for a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave, the release of hostages and all detained persons, as well as the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces. It also includes lifting the blockade and ensuring free access of humanitarian aid to all those who need it under the auspices of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross.”
“The leading Arab Muslim countries have expressed support for the plan. The Palestinian National Authority has confirmed its readiness for cooperating with all partners to shape a comprehensive peace agreement. Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly welcomed the new US plan. Russia has always called for an immediate ceasefire and an end to bloodshed in Gaza. We believe that any measures and initiatives aimed at this deserve to be supported. We hope that a ceasefire will become sustainable and will ultimately lead to lasting stabilisation in the Palestinian enclave. This will create the necessary conditions for launching comprehensive efforts to rebuild the sector’s infrastructure, which has been almost completely destroyed during the hostilities.”
“It is important that a successful and smooth implementation of this plan should pave the way to the resumption of a constructive dialogue between the Israeli and Palestinian sides on a comprehensive political settlement of all disputed issues on the recognised international legal basis, which provides for the creation of an independent Palestinian state that will live in peace and security with Israel [5].”
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was out of Moscow in Sochi. He was attending the Kremlin-financed platform known as the Valdai Club [6].
He had been told what Peskov announced earlier as the Kremlin line. He had also agreed to the text of Zakharova’s press release. But then, at 17:59 publication time, he was asked: “What is Moscow’s position on Trump’s plan to resolve the situation in Gaza, which was announced on Monday? How do you assess the proposal to establish interim external management with the international participation and the formation of an international contingent for operational deployment in Gaza? Did Moscow receive any signals about the possibility of participating in this contingent? How do you assess the chances of success of this plan as a whole?”
Lavrov replied [7] that, unlike Peskov and the Ministry in Moscow, he wasn’t ready to answer because he wasn’t sure what the plan details were, who had authored them, what the Arab governments were thinking, and how the Palestinians, including Hamas, would respond. He spoke ironically, which the Ministry signalled by putting some of Lavrov’s phrases in inverted commas and leaving his verbs to be understood to mean their opposite.
“We have not seen this plan. We have only heard comments about its contents. You have now outlined its main provisions. I have heard that this international body, which is intended to ‘temporarily govern Gaza’, is planned to be headed by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He himself seems to have already announced this. I reiterate, I am not privy to the details. I do not know what powers he will be granted, nor how the Arab countries view this. I am aware that some of them have already welcomed ‘Donald Trump’s plan’. However, a final assessment can only be made once we know the views of all of Palestine’s neighbours, Israel, the countries of the region, the League of Arab States, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and, above all, the Palestinians themselves. I have heard that representatives of the Palestinian National Authority are not being considered for inclusion in this temporary body, even as observers.”
“Regarding the international security forces. No, we have not been invited to participate. I reiterate, we only became aware of this new plan yesterday. However, I have read that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, commenting on ‘Donald Trump’s plan’ – which was announced following Netanyahu’s visit to Washington – said that the plan is good and should not be altered. He claimed that Hamas and everyone else should agree to it. Among the positive aspects of this plan, he stated that Israel would retain control over security in Gaza. This somewhat contradicts the establishment of international forces, so all the details need to be clarified [8] first.”
A long time ago, living in his Italian exile from Moscow, Maxim Gorky wrote a brief essay called “The Clock [9]”. The point of it is at the beginning: “It is eerie to listen, in the stillness and loneliness of the night, to the beautiful and uniform voice of the clock…How shall we live so as to have the consciousness of not having lived in vain? How shall we live so as not to lose faith and willpower? How live that no second shall pass which is not moved by intellect and feeling? Will the clock never give an answer to that? Oh! this motion without an end! What does the clock say to it?”