Israel and the Palestinian armed groups waging war in Gaza for the past seven weeks have inked a cease-fire deal that promises an end to the fighting. While the full terms of the deal have not been released, news outlets are reporting that the agreement includes an easing of the blockade of Gaza and the halting of attacks from both sides.
The reported terms of the deal are similar to the 2012 agreement that ended Israel’s last assault on Gaza, though that deal was never implemented. It remains to be seen whether a real easing of the blockade, the core demand of Palestinians, will take place. There was no mechanism for enforcing that 2012 agreement, and it doesn’t look like there will be a mechanism for enforcing this deal. Nevertheless, representatives of Palestinian parties are celebrating the deal as a victory, and people in Gaza have also taken to the streets in celebration.
“We have reached an agreement for a ceasefire according to the 2012 deal, which includes opening the borders, and bringing in building materials,” Islamic Jihad official Ziad Nakhallah told The Guardian‘s Harriet Sherwood and Patrick Kingsley, who is reporting from Cairo, where cease-fire negotiations have taken place during the war. The deal also reportedly includes the opening of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, and an easing of restrictions on fishing off the Gaza coast. The Palestinian Authority will govern the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, a return to arrangements at the border before Hamas and Fatah fought a brief battle for control of Gaza in 2007. The buffer zone that eats up agricultural land in Gaza near the Israel border will also be eased.
Other key issues that Hamas demanded will be talked about in a month. Those include the release of Palestinian prisoners, an airport and seaport for Gaza and the transfer of funds from Qatar to government employees in Gaza that Israel has blocked. Hamas also is said to hold the remains of two Israeli soldiers, which potentially paves the way towards a prisoner swap.
In Israel, the reaction was much more dour. The deal was unilaterally agreed to by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu without the consent of his cabinet. Netanyahu’s coalition partners–and political rivals–Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman oppose the cease-fire. The prime minister is sure to take a political beating in the aftermath of the war. His poll numbers have already dropped in recent days from 82 percent to 38 percent. And political officials in the south of Israel, which have borne the brunt of Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks, have harshly criticized the deal. “Any concession to Hamas is a surrender to terrorism,” the mayor of Ashkelon told Haaretz.
The cease-fire agreement concludes the fiercest round of fighting ever waged in Gaza. The Palestinian death toll over 50 days of war stands at over 2,100, most of them civilians, and over 11,000 injured. About 500 Palestinian children were killed. 64 Israeli soldiers and five Israeli civilians were killed by Palestinian factions. Many people have fled Israel’s southern communities.
The key question for many Palestinians in Gaza is rebuilding. Whole neighborhoods have been flattened by Israeli bombs and artillery fire. About 475,000 Palestinians are displaced and many are homeless.
Just a question on the Israeli dead: were all 69 of those killed by Palestinian factions, or were some killed by so-called friendly fire? I had understood that at least 4 Israeli combatants were not killed by Palestinians.
>> “Any concession to Hamas is a surrender to terrorism,” the mayor of Ashkelon told Haaretz.
Any concession to oppressive, colonialist, expansionist and supremacist “Jewish State” – a state that has been stealing, occupying and colonizing Palestinian land and oppressing, torturing and killing Palestinians for over 60 years – is a concession to terrorism. And, yet, Zio-supremacist seem to think that that’s appropriate.
Ceasefire according to the 2012 deal- what happened to those conditions ? Israel broke every single one of them.
Massive political clusterfuck in Israel ahead. Bennett and Lieberman say no to ceasefire and Netanyahu has 38% approval. 95% Jewish approval for the carnage – they are hardly going to give in on the siege just like that.
The economy is already slowing down.
Time is tight for Zionism to pull a rabbit out of the hat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50xx1_CbJTI
There’s quite a bit of discussion as to how much the Palestinians have gained but one thing is certain, this is a complete and total defeat for Butcher Bibi and his government. NOT ONE of his stated goals has been met, not a single one. They have accomplished nothing except for proving they can slaughter with impunity, and we knew that already.
“people in Gaza have also taken to the streets in celebration.”
As long as they are celebrating, I am glad. I am not going to pick apart anything about the deal.
I am not surprised at your assessment that “In Israel, the reaction was much more dour.”
Once again, they expose themselves as genocidal maniacs of a “lunatic state”. (h/t Norman Finkelstein)
I hope that justice, freedom and peace for the Palestinians follow soon. Long live Palestine!