The four-day ceasefire and hostage-release deal between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Qatar and the US, has begun since 7 a.m. local time November 24. It marks the first break in Israel’s continuous seven-week-long bombardment of the Gaza Strip following unprecedented air and ground strikes on southern Israel by Hamas October 7. The four-day respite from the horrors of war is expected to result in the exchange of 150 Palestinian women and children imprisoned in Israeli jails for 50 women and children hostages held by Hamas. It also offers an opportunity for aid to percolate into the battered, bruised and bleeding enclave where nearly 15,000 people have been killed in the bombing, including more than 6,000 children.
The measure does not by any means indicate that an end to the war is in sight. Nearly 200 hostages still remain in the hands of Hamas, while the Israeli counter-offensive in Gaza has been described by Martin Griffiths, the UN humanitarian chief as “the worst ever complete and utter carnage”. For, two-fifths of the estimated 14,000 dead in Gaza are children, and 1.7 million people constituting three-quarters of Gaza’s population have been displaced.
Given the mood of the Israeli government and Hamas that controls Palestine, the assessment made by Oxfam does not appear to be an exaggeration. It has called the deal “a band-Aid that will be ripped off a bleeding wound after four days.”
The fear for a bleak prospect of the truce is prompted by statements made by both Israel and Hamas. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) say that it is an operational pause, not a ceasefire, whereas Netanyahu has told the world that Israel will continue with the war. Hamas do not lag behind and assert that their hands will remain “on the trigger.” This is certainly no language of peace.
Nevertheless, there is a flicker of hope. The truce itself is a welcome outcome of the pressure mounted by the international community and grieving relatives of the Israeli hostages on the Israeli government to make saving human lives more important than politics. The sight of family reunions and the suffering of hostages may hopefully build support in Israel for a lengthier truce. Moreover, once foreign journalists get a chance to see with their own eyes the actual devastation in Gaza by means of access might result in international pressure to increase further. In that case peace may have a chance, however short-lived in the contest of regional dynamics.
What, however, is to be admired is that the IDF, notwithstanding international pressure, is able to continue its incessant bombing and attacks primarily because of political unity at home. The multi-party Israeli coalition government, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, did not try to hog all credits for the war. Realizing the situation was grim, it allowed all opposition parties to join in on a national crisis situation. That enabled the Israelis to seemingly ignore international pressure and show their steadfastness in protecting common citizens of that country. This is so unlike some other countries where politicians think they can thrive only if they can manage a slaughter of their own citizens. That kind of event draws support for them that results in electoral victories.
Ever since Netanyahu chose to fight for his own political survival with the support of some of the extremists in his cabinet, the quest for the solution to the Palestinian question virtually turned into a mirage. The increasingly strident rhetoric of this Far-Right group to hound out Palestinians from their homes in Gaza and the West Bank and expand Israel’s occupation of territories may not be conducive to a solution.
On the other hand, Hamas showed their claws and fangs and struck terror in Israel, calculating that their action would intimidate the Far-Right-driven Israeli government. That was certainly a miscalculation as the subsequent events and pulverisation of a major chunk of Gaza has proved. The most despicable aspect of this confrontation is that neither side spared women and children to achieve their respective ends. Both have come across as blood-thirsty monsters where women, children and the old are considered collateral damage.
Critics of Israel may argue that Hamas offensive, even though at an incalculable human cost, has forced the comity of nations to sit up and take note of the design of the Far-Right group doing backseat driving of Israeli government to legalise its occupation and turn Palestinians first in Gaza and then in West Bank into homeless destitute.
However, the positive result of such a tactic that caught Israel unawares, is that the Biden administration has already made it clear that it will not brook a full-scale expansion of Israeli operations into the south. It would not be unreasonable to hope that the offensive might lose its intensity, though it will continue indefinitely. Such a scenario would be better than that of nearly 200 children getting killed every day according to UN estimates. The deal, therefore, is welcome and the international community needs to work in unison to prolong it as long as possible. Durable peace and order through negotiation and dialogue seem to be a near impossibility in the Middle East.