Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces accusations from within Israel of leading the country into artificial regional crises, through a possible confrontation with the mediators who have been working between Tel Aviv and the Hamas movement, even before the outbreak of the current war, in addition to their involvement since the beginning of the crisis in negotiations about prisoner exchange deal.

Although the relations between the extremist Netanyahu government with both Egypt and Qatar were marred by many “pent-up” tensions during the current war period, these differences have come to light for the first time, and they are differences that are not far from the Israeli dispute with the American administration, which also works with Cairo and Doha in the mediation negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli media focused on Netanyahu leading Israel to regional crises, noting that the differences had reached the point where Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi refused to respond to his calls, while Qatar attacked him publicly, in response to statements made by Netanyahu against Qatar. Media reports expected that a third crisis would emerge with Jordan, after it was leaked that the Israeli Ministry of Energy was studying the possibility of “not extending the water agreement with Jordan.”

Meanwhile, American media reports reported that Israeli soldiers have continued to work since November to establish a buffer zone along the border with the Gaza Strip. The Wall Street Journal quoted soldiers as saying that they had received orders to clear an area one kilometer wide along the border, as part of an Israeli plan to create a security buffer zone inside Gaza.

In a related context, attention is turning today to the International Court of Justice, which will issue, from its headquarters in The Hague, its decision on the possibility of imposing emergency measures on Israel following accusations from South Africa that the Israeli war in Gaza constitutes genocide.