Twentytwo13

Israel-Hamas ceasefire – A charade and a ruse?

Gathering at the Boston Public Library- Central Library, Boylston Street, Boston, MA, USA in January 2024.

Can Israel be trusted to honour the ceasefire agreement with Hamas, which came into effect on Jan 19?

From past records of their belligerent actions, they have been exposed as lawless people who do not respect international laws and give scant regard to world opinion.

A recent example is their disregard and disdain for the ruling of the International Court of Justice against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and its former defence minister Yoav Gallant, who have been indicted for crimes against humanity.

In line with Israel’s belligerence and disregard for international law and order, the US House of Representatives recently passed a motion to sanction the International Criminal Court in protest against its arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant over Israel’s campaign in Gaza.

The Israelis have given indication that they are not especially enthusiastic about the temporary ceasefire, much less a permanent one. This attitude towards the ceasefire is evident from several far-right cabinet members who have threatened to resign if Netanyahu did not continue the war after the six-week ceasefire.

The newly-inaugurated US President Donald Trump has aligned himself with Netanyahu’s belligerent stance when he said he was sceptical of a lasting ceasefire in response to a query from a journalist after his inauguration.

Even as the mediators were finalising the ceasefire agreement, the Israeli military continued to bomb and kill civilians under the pretext of flushing out Hamas.

After the ceasefire came into effect, the Israeli military continued to bomb Gaza and the West Bank under the guise of counter-terrorism operations.

Israel and Netanyahu are emboldened to carry out belligerent acts with impunity because of unequivocal US support, which sends them bombs and ordnance to carry out genocide and vetoes all United Nations Security Council resolutions against the barbaric actions of Israel.

In fact, the US has previously vetoed several Security Council resolutions for ceasefire in deference to Israel and Netanyahu.

One of the Israelis’ objectives is to secure the release of the hostages taken by Hamas. This was reiterated by the former and current US presidents. Trump even threatened to rain hell on Gaza if the hostage issue remains unresolved.

Once they secure this objective, they will resume the genocide of the Palestinians, which is their main objective of annihilating the entire Palestinian population and grabbing their lands.

When this happens, the US and its allies will side with Israel and send bombs to continue the genocide, regurgitating the inane mantra that Israel has a right to defend itself.

A military supported by the US and its allies, with unimaginable military arsenals, defending against a rag-tag group armed only with basic weaponry? That is absurd.

The US and the Israeli forces will only fight groups and nations with inferior military capabilities.

They do not have the courage to engage with nations of comparable military might.

The current brokered ceasefire might just be a ruse to coincide with Trump’s inauguration as president. He would have to make good his threat that “all hell will break loose” over Gaza if the hostage issue is not resolved by the time he takes office.

He cannot be seen as a just-inaugurated president making empty threats. He would be dubbed a barbaric president for unleashing the military might of the US to pulverise innocent and helpless civilians in Gaza on the day of his inauguration. He would be degraded as a murderous villain alongside Netanyahu.

Thus, the ceasefire is a face-saving move for Trump, who must have assured Netanyahu of this ruse and that they are on the same wavelength about continuing the genocide and annihilating Gaza.

I view the ceasefire deal and the release of hostages on the eve of Trump’s inauguration as a charade, a publicity stunt to create an image of Trump as a statesman and world leader in charge of the American polity.

The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of Twentytwo13.