Alwaght- While despite the continuation of massacre and blockade in Gaza the operations by the Palestinian resistance fighters against the Israeli occupation forces have been on the rise and the Israeli casualties have also seen a tangible increase in recent days, the US President Donald Trump has claimed that Tel Aviv has agreed to a 60-day ceasefire and accordingly a delegation of Israeli military political and security officials have visited Qatar to discuss terms of the truce.
Some American and Israeli media outlets revealed some details of the new truce proposal, saying that during this ceasefire, the Israeli prisoners held by Hamas since October 7, 2023 will be freed in return for a number of Palestinian prisoners. The proposal, however, does not guarantee end of war and only suggests that talks will continue.
In this connection, Israel's Channel 10, citing anonymous sources, reported that under the deal, 8 living Israeli prisoners will be released on the first day and two living prisoners will be released on the 50th day. Bodies of 18 dead Israelis will be delivered within three stages.
According to the report, on the first day and after the handover of 8 living prisoners, the army will begin its withdrawal from northern Gaza, and on the seventh day, after the handover of 5 dead prisoners, the Israeli army will withdraw from the Morag Corridor in southern Gaza. However, the boundaries of the Israeli army’s withdrawal have not yet been determined. Israeli media outlets reported that according to the new proposed agreement, the flow of aid to Gaza will increase.
Israeli sources said that according to the plan, Hamas will be asked to refrain from holding any filmed ceremonies for the release of prisoners similar to the ceremonies held during the release of prisoners during the previous ceasefire this year.
Also, negotiations on a permanent ceasefire will begin in the next stage. The role of the mediators will be to provide guarantees for serious negotiations to end the war during the ceasefire period, and if an agreement to end the war is not reached within 60 days, this period can be extended.
Sources familiar with the ceasefire talks say that significant progress has been made for an agreement, but there are still differences on the conditions for stopping the fighting and the extent of the Israeli military withdrawal. However, an Israeli source in this regard said that Tel Aviv has not agreed to the terms of several new proposals that revolve around the timetable and guarantees for ending the war, which are the same important and controversial points in previous negotiations.
According to a report by Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed in a cabinet meeting that he will not back down from the goal of destroying Hamas. The Hebrew newspaper added that in the event of a ceasefire, the army will remain in the security circle inside the Gaza Strip that it has previously announced for the duration of the ceasefire."
i24 News reported that Tel Aviv is not committed to ending the war, rather, it is committed to talks to end the war, and the negotiations on the extend of withdrawal from Gaza and redeployment in the future continue.
Palestinian distrust in Washington and Tel Aviv
Despite Hamas's positive response to the draft deal, the US-proposed deal brazenly serves the strategic Israeli interests. This bias has caused profound doubt in the Israeli commitment and loyalty to its promises under the deal.
In analyzing the current state of the Gaza ceasefire, we should say that despite the Israeli regime’s initial green light to the 60-day ceasefire proposal, the deep distrust of the Palestinians, especially Hamas, is driven by solid reasons that are rooted in historical experiences and the teens of the new proposal.
The proposed terms of the ceasefire lack international guarantees for a permanent halt to Tel Aviv’s aggression. Hamas has stated that any agreement must contain the complete withdrawal of the occupation forces from Gaza, the permanent opening of the border crossings for humanitarian aid, and the end of the siege, but the current proposal is limited to the temporary Israeli withdrawal to the buffer zone and does not foresee any monitoring mechanism for the implementation of the Israeli obligations.
Also, while the first round of new negotiations for the Gaza ceasefire in Doha has ended without a definitive result, Palestinian sources emphasized the Hamas's key position in any agreement: The ceasefire must be real and permanent, not temporary and fragile.
In addition to the terms of the ceasefire, which are designed to benefit the Israelis, other evil plans are also being implemented by the US that will undermine any trust in the Trump administration.
In this regard, the government information office in Gaza announced that, according to a major investigation published by the Financial Times, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), one of the largest consulting firms in the world, was involved in preparing a financial model for the relocation of Gaza residents.
The office added that this secret plan, codenamed Aurura, seeks relocation of over half a million Gazans in return for "migration packages" sponsored by foreign institutions.
The Wall Street Journal investigation has highlighted that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an aid distribution organization in Gaza that oversees the "death traps" in Gaza and was established with the support of the US and Israel, is the executive face of this plan.
The investigation notes that this organization claims to provide humanitarian aid, but in practice it has so far caused the deaths of 751 civilians, the injury of 4,931 others, and the disappearance of 39 people. This is while 130 international humanitarian organizations have refused to cooperate with this organization, considering it a “cover for Israeli military goals.”
The government information office in Gaza warned against the continuation of these criminal projects that try to present the crime of forced displacement as a “humanitarian solution.”
Therefore, in such an atmosphere where the US is secretly taking steps to implement the evil plans of the occupation regime, any trust in the leaders of the White House will be falling into the enemy's trap.
Therefore, it seems that Trump's guarantees for a temporary ceasefire are more meant to create a space for normalizing relations between Arab countries and the Israeli regime than with the actual end of the war. Even the possibility of Trump declaring a ceasefire has been raised not on the basis of trust, but to reduce the pressure of global public opinion.
In the eyes of the Palestinians, continuing the war after a two-month ceasefire is a confirmation of this claim that Israel with the US backing seeks to change the Middle East map and eliminate any state structure associated with resistance. This is an aim the Israeli and American leaders have openly declared.
Additionally, Netanyahu agrees to ceasefire not for the sake of peace but for tactical reasons to release himself of the home pressures to bring home the prisoners, and as he asserted several times, he will never quit his aim to obliterate Hamas.
This is while preserving military achievements, including the "disarmament of Hamas," means ignoring the Palestinians' right to self-defense, which resistance groups have repeatedly warned is a red line and they will not surrender to the enemy.
On the other hand, the record of previous temporary ceasefires shows that Israel has used these opportunities to rebuild its strength and then intensify attacks after the deadline expires, and it is not unlikely that it will continue its crimes in Gaza after the 60-day period ends. Actually, hardline ministers of the Israeli cabinet have tied stay in the coalition government to continuation of war against the Palestinians.
The documents of Israeli agreements with Gaza and Lebanon show that Washington and Tel Aviv design the deals in a way that establishes Israeli security dominance, ignores the Palestinian and Lebanese rights, and paves the way for resumption of war.
Given this, the Palestinian trust in the Israelis has been marred not only by the unrealized promises, but also by the contradiction in words and deeds of Israeli and American officials. As long as there are no practical guarantees to permanent end of war, any ceasefire is doomed to failure.
