AFTER 15 long months, Israel’s genocide in Gaza has been put on hold. Whether this will lead to a permanent end to hostilities in the occupied Palestinian territories is anyone’s guess. But for the time being, the battered people of Gaza can mourn their dead — over 46,000 of them, and more likely buried under the rubble — without the threat of Israeli bombs falling on them, and tend to their wounded.

The three-stage ceasefire deal reached on Wednesday, overseen by Qatar, Egypt and the US, envisions an exchange of prisoners between Hamas and Israel, as well as the provision of aid to Gaza’s people, and an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Strip, among other points. Much will depend on Tel Aviv’s sincerity towards honouring the deal. Even after the truce — which takes effect on Sunday — was announced, Israel continued its killing spree in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier boasted that the fight would continue till the destruction of Hamas. That obviously did not come to pass; instead, Tel Aviv has signed a truce with the Palestinian armed group. This shows that even the world’s best-equipped militaries, armed with advanced American weaponry, cannot break the will of an occupied people, who have sacrificed thousands of lives, but have refused to give up their land.

While it is hoped that the peace deal matures into a permanent ceasefire, and the people of Gaza are provided urgent succour, the world must not forget what Israel has done in this tiny coastal Strip. The thousands of deaths; the reports of rape and abuse of prisoners; the babies freezing to death, a population starved and denied access to clean water — all these war crimes must be thoroughly investigated, and the criminals brought to book. The war crimes proceedings at the ICC, and South Africa’s genocide case at the ICJ, must be brought to their logical conclusion so that Israel is never again able to commit these monstrous crimes against the Palestinian people.

Regarding the ‘day after’ the war, many plans are being proffered, but the only long-term solution to the Palestine question is a viable and independent Palestinian state. For this to happen, Israel must vacate all occupied Palestinian territories, and agree to a contiguous Arab state capable of supporting itself. Palestinian Bantustans, surrounded by Israel and vulnerable to its barbaric onslaughts, will not solve the problem. The Gaza genocide has also revealed the utter helplessness of the Palestinian Authority in projecting Palestine’s case globally.

All Palestinian factions — principally the PLO and Hamas — will have to put up a united front, and face the occupation with solidarity. If Israel goes back to its murderous ways, shielded by its close friends in Washington, the Palestinians will have no choice but to resist.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2025