THIS is with reference to the report ‘UNSC adopts US-drafted resolution on Gaza ceasefire’ (June 11). Despite the fact that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) voted unanimously in favour of the proposal, with Russia, which abstained, being the only exception, the peace plan falls short of providing any guarantee that Israel will continue to follow the plan once the hostages have been freed by Hamas. The world has seen how little value Israel puts on what the global community believes or what the UN says.

The draft was based on the proposal United States President Joe Biden had first made public on May 31. In order to make it look like a comprehensive package, it was broken up in three phases. The first two phases would be shorter in duration, with the third phase spanning three to five years because it will involve the rebuilding of residential as well as amenity buildings, like educational institutions, hospitals, etc., and rehabilitating public works, like sanitary, water and electricity supply.

However, neither the American draft nor the UN resolution has even once mentioned the establishment of a Palestinian state, which, ironically, Biden and most leaders in the West have described as the only just and durable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem.

Besides, the transition from one phase to the other will practically remain tied to how Israel interprets ‘progress’ in any given phase. And the world has seen beyond doubt how whimsical, irrational and sadistic Israel happens to be in such ‘assessments’.

So, in practical terms, the supposedly comprehensive three-phase deal, which the world now wants Hamas to accept, may well prove in the long run even more worthless than the Oslo Accords.

S.R.H. Hashmi
Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2024