AS the people of Gaza return to the rubble where their homes once stood, there is a feeling of relief.

Two years after the genocide was unleashed by Israel, the Gazans are thankful that the slaughter is over — though for how long is anyone’s guess. But in the midst of their respite there is also grief and bitterness. Some have lost entire families, while others mourn a child, a sibling, a parent, a spouse or a friend murdered by the Zionist regime. Along with medics to address the effects of the deliberate famine inflicted on them, the survivors will need professional help to cope with their mental wounds.

Beyond the self-congratulatory rhetoric coming out of the White House about having secured ‘peace’, the first priority must be the humanitarian uplift of the population. As the spokesperson of the UN’s humanitarian agency said, the job ahead is “monumental”.

The Gaza genocide must never be forgotten. Just as the West ensures that the Holocaust — perpetrated by one of its own — continues to be remembered, so too must the memory of the Palestinian holocaust be kept alive. Over 67,000 people have been butchered by Tel Aviv in plain sight, while many more bodies may be buried under the tons of rubble. These crimes must not be forgotten and brushed under the rug; there must be accountability for those responsible, in Tel Aviv and beyond, for the murder and starvation of occupied Gaza’s population.

There are also important questions about how long the ceasefire will last, considering Israel’s dubious record of repeatedly breaking its word. More cynical observers are of the view that the Zionist regime may restart its genocidal campaign once the Israeli prisoners are back. One can only hope that this will not be the case, and that the architects of this plan, namely the US and the Arab states, ensure that Israel sticks to its word.

The status of the latter stages of Donald Trump’s peace deal are also unclear, specifically with regard to Hamas’s surrender of its weapons, and the question of who will govern Gaza. Several Palestinian groups, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the PFLP, have said they reject the ‘foreign guardianship’ of Gaza.

Under no means must a colonial enterprise be allowed to ‘oversee’ the Strip; it is the Palestinians themselves who should be deciding their future. After the ceasefire, it would be unfair not to acknowledge the tens of thousands, if not millions, of people who marched in Western cities calling for justice in Palestine, even as many of their governments remained complicit in the genocide.

But let there be no illusions: long-term peace can only come about with the liberation of occupied Palestinian land, and the creation of a viable Palestinian state.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2025