After a slew of broken ceasefires spread over a 50-day assault which killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, including about 500 children, Israel and Hamas finally agreed to put in place a ‘long-term’ truce that wouldn’t be broken in a matter of hours or days, hopefully. This is indeed a welcome development, even though for how long the said truce holds is a matter of serious concern.
Possibilities notwithstanding, Gaza strip has been unfathomably battered for too long, with innocent civilians caught in the crosshairs of rocket firing, shelling, bomb blasts and other assorted means of war between Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and Hamas. The catastrophic loss of life and destruction of schools, hospitals, shelters, banks and other indispensable structures of a habitable urbanity in Gaza have divided and shamed international fraternity outraged over the unequal and grossly disproportional attack carried out by Israel on the Palestinian people in the region. Whether or not there was a genuine provocation, it has been universally accepted that Gaza has been pummeled and sent back to the stone ages by unfair military strikes by IDF.
A genuine ceasefire is, therefore, not only the need of the hour, but also the only humanitarian thing to do in the face of relentless and unparalleled violence upon the men, women and children of Gaza. The Egypt-brokered peace deal, however ramshackle and temporary, is also a sign that West Asia and North Africa, so far stupendously silent on the current installment Israeli-Palestinian conflict, are now getting increasingly impatient with the terror fallouts of the ongoing crisis and wary of the economic instability that is refusing to thin down. In fact, the Gaza conflict had prompted a number of countries, particularly the Latin American powers, to enforce embargos on trade and commercial exchanges with Israel, affecting apolitical business communities. Moreover, Benjamin Netanyahu has isolated himself from even his biggest supporters in the United States, and his bowing to international pressure is an indication that this might be a bigger window of opportunity to broker legitimate peace between the warring sides.
Possibilities notwithstanding, Gaza strip has been unfathomably battered for too long, with innocent civilians caught in the crosshairs of rocket firing, shelling, bomb blasts and other assorted means of war between Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and Hamas. The catastrophic loss of life and destruction of schools, hospitals, shelters, banks and other indispensable structures of a habitable urbanity in Gaza have divided and shamed international fraternity outraged over the unequal and grossly disproportional attack carried out by Israel on the Palestinian people in the region. Whether or not there was a genuine provocation, it has been universally accepted that Gaza has been pummeled and sent back to the stone ages by unfair military strikes by IDF.
A genuine ceasefire is, therefore, not only the need of the hour, but also the only humanitarian thing to do in the face of relentless and unparalleled violence upon the men, women and children of Gaza. The Egypt-brokered peace deal, however ramshackle and temporary, is also a sign that West Asia and North Africa, so far stupendously silent on the current installment Israeli-Palestinian conflict, are now getting increasingly impatient with the terror fallouts of the ongoing crisis and wary of the economic instability that is refusing to thin down. In fact, the Gaza conflict had prompted a number of countries, particularly the Latin American powers, to enforce embargos on trade and commercial exchanges with Israel, affecting apolitical business communities. Moreover, Benjamin Netanyahu has isolated himself from even his biggest supporters in the United States, and his bowing to international pressure is an indication that this might be a bigger window of opportunity to broker legitimate peace between the warring sides.