Hamas and Israel implemented a prisoner exchange agreement on Monday under a ceasefire agreement that saw the release of around 2,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons and 20 Israeli prisoners held in the Gaza Strip.
Although significant questions remain about the future of Gaza and Hamas’ role in the region, hopes are rising that the prisoner-for-prisoner exchange will end the devastating Israeli war that has devastated the enclave and killed more than 67,806 people. The ceasefire is also expected to allow a surge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, which has suffered famine amid Israeli shelling and a blockade of territory. Many of Gaza’s more than 2 million residents are reportedly at risk of starvation.
Amid the back-and-forth, U.S. President Donald Trump, whose administration played a leading role in finalizing the deal, traveled to occupied Palestine and spoke in the Knesset ahead of an international summit in Egypt that he will co-chair later Monday.
On Monday night, President Donald Trump, along with several regional leaders, signed Gaza ceasefire documents during a summit in Egypt and welcomed the release of Israeli prisoners, as Hamas denounced the “harshest forms of sadism and fascism” endured by Palestinians released from Israeli prisons.
To shed more light on the future of the ceasefire, MEA spoke with Basil Farage, assistant professor at Birzeit University’s Faculty of Philosophy and Culture. Below are his insights on this issue.
1. In your assessment, how sustainable is the Gaza ceasefire? Do you think there is a chance that Israel will resume shelling Gaza once the prisoner exchange is complete, even though the US president has already said the Gaza war is over?
Obviously, we know that the Zionist regime of Israel has not only broken the last two ceasefire agreements, but if we look to the present, it is not honoring any of the agreements set out in the Lebanon ceasefire agreement, for example.
It also continues to expand its invasions into many Arab countries.
If we look at this moment since the genocide began and throughout recent history, we see that this regime is not actually honoring the ceasefire agreement. For example, the threat of rearresting Palestinians is always looming. We are also hearing that Israel controls the amount of aid that enters the Gaza Strip. From experience and what I have heard, Israel does not necessarily abide by the ceasefire agreement and all of its details.
We also know that there is pressure on the Israeli government to accept the so-called “Trump Plan.” Now, what this plan means and, of course, how it turned out to be advantageous to the Israeli regime is a separate discussion. This can be seen in the United States’ military spending on Israel, its investments in the war, and the fact that this war was not just a war waged by Israel against the Palestinian population, but also an Israeli war aided, abetted, and armed by the United States and other countries.
It’s a broader range of things. We hope that the ceasefire will continue. There appears to be immense pressure on the Israeli government, at least from what we hear. Again, this is said while acknowledging that while Israel may abide by some of the terms of the ceasefire agreement, it may continue its aggression against the Palestinian people in other ways.
For example, escalating threats against the Gaza Strip, controlling the amount of aid flowing in, and limiting the possibility of entering and exiting the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border. He was also found to have manipulated lists of prisoners scheduled for release, as well as lists provided by Palestinian political factions.
Therefore, to answer this question, we need to look at Israel’s history, its treatment and approach to the cease-fire agreement, and at the same time look at the pressure that the United States exerted on the Israeli regime.
2. What diplomatic or political mechanisms are needed to ensure that post-war Gaza does not return to a cycle of escalation?
I think how we can ensure the continuation of the ceasefire, which is the most important thing for us, is through the embargo against Palestine, through activism, through the expansion of the global movement. There is much work to be done.
The genocide may have been put on hold, but Israeli aggression continues. The continued brutal treatment of Palestinian prisoners in the West Bank and the fact that thousands remain in Israeli captivity, as well as the omnipresent challenges and difficulties of the Gaza Strip and its residents, make it clear that global pressure must continue to isolate Israel if the ceasefire is to be ensured.
We must ensure that this regime continues to be portrayed as an outcast globally by maintaining continued pressure, imposing embargoes and economic sanctions, and working effectively to isolate the Israeli regime as a Zionist regime that thrives on genocide and the murder of Palestinians.
In a sense, political mechanisms to ensure that escalation does not occur include ensuring mobilization. But of course we must also take into account the fact that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been living under blockade for decades.
Without addressing this political and social context, we will not see any change in the reality in the Gaza Strip. Of course, a ceasefire is an important step, but the conditions that led to the escalation of Israeli aggression must be addressed. Otherwise, this brutal reality will continue and we will see no change in the lives of Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, in addition to the ongoing murderous and genocidal war being waged against them.
Interview by Mohadese Pakhravan