The peace forged between Netanyahu’s far-right Messianic militia and Hamas is the first bit of respite from killing and destruction that Palestinian civilians have seen in over 400 days. The peace agreement will be in three phases:
- The first phase will last 42 days in which 33 hostages will be released in exchange for 2000 Palestinians including minors, will be released from Israeli jails. During this first stage, Israeli troops will pull out of “all” populated areas of Gaza. At the same time, Palestinians will also be allowed to return to their neighbourhoods in all the areas of Gaza. Just to be clear when they talk about neighbourhoods where 80% of buildings have been destroyed or damaged a sort of lunar landscape. In addition, 600 truckloads of desperately needed aid will flow into Gaza per day.
- The second phase is called the permanent cessation of violence. Negotiations will lead to the release of the balance of the hostages and the release of an additional 2000 Palestinians from Israeli jails and Israeli forces will make a complete withdrawal from Gaza.
- The final phase concerns the reconstruction of Gaza, a monumental task that will take years and cost hundreds of billions of dollars hopefully paid for by Palestinian neighbouring brothers. Please note that Qatar spent $220 billion on hosting the 2022 World Cup. Finally, let us not forget that IDF has created 42 million tonnes of rubble that will need to be removed.
Several important things need to happen, such as for the new leader of Hamas to shut the “F” up about October 7th being a great achievement, the killing of 30,000 women and children and Gaza looking more like Hiroshima in 1945 showed the resilience of the Palestinian people. He can say this, he is still alive. Hamas need to break its links with the misogynistic theocratic and authoritarian Iranian regime show political courage/pragmatism and recognise Israel’s right to exist. Finally, Palestinians need a fair and free election to elect a new coalition that can speak on behalf of and represent all Palestinians, neither Fatah nor Hamas fit the bill.
In the case of Israel, the electorate needs to set aside its siege mentality, remove the current regime and elect a leader who respects international law and UN resolutions on the occupied territories and shows a bit of empathy and contrition for the many war crimes committed on your behalf. Furthermore, that leader must understand and act on the basis that Israel’s security, peace and prosperity, and better links with others in the region are predicated on the creation of a viable and self-governing Palestinian state. We know after the first phase that the Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich of the far-right Religious Zionist Party wants to resume ethnic cleansing to create a river to the sea Israel. He still refers to the killing of Palestinian children as collateral damage. Let us see if God’s chosen people make the right choices about their futures and do not do an Exodus 32. Finally, any new Israeli government must stop the ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. Both parties must not allow any process to be hijacked by either Islamists or far-right messianic Jews such as in the settler movement or one-off acts of terror.
Another issue is the appointment of Mike Huckabee as the US Ambassador to Israel whose Evangelical Christian values and understanding of history are not in accord with the existence of Palestine as a place or Palestinians as an identity. Still, it will be embraced by Gvir, Smotrich and others in the far-right/neo-fascist Jewish parties. Again, this must not be allowed to undermine a road map to peace. Finally, Trump’s recent pronouncements were lauded by Gvir and his neo-fascist brothers and sisters, that all displaced Palestinians in Gaza should move to Jordan and Egypt, just the opportunity that Gvir, Smotrich and his allies want to create that “greater” Israel. Mark Twain’s line” “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” Unfortunately, Trump’s narcissism prevents him from doing so.
Israeli commentator, Haviv Rettig Gur has suggested that the war will resume because the second phase will be hard for some Israelis and the current regime to swallow both, a complete withdrawal, and the inevitable return of Hamas as the de facto government.
Mustafa Barghouti, president of the Palestinian National Initiative is clear he wants the occupation to end and with that, no reasonable person can disagree. He told Fareed Zakaria that Hamas does not want to control Gaza and does not even want to be in government. However, he failed to comment on whether they will continue as the dominant paramilitary force in Gaza. He is calling for an election and the creation of a democracy under a new National Consensus Government. He also said that he has “largely” convinced Hamas to non-violence for 5 years. What is needed is a decommissioning process and the creation of a new policing system controlled by any future government. As a great political philosopher said, “They haven’t gone away you know,”. Hamas as a body may not go away but their military capability will need to be dismantled as part of a peace agreement. If the Northern Ireland experience is worth anything, this is it.
Suppose the tragedy of 7th October and the genocide that followed do not lead to peace and a clear road map to Palestinian self-determination. In that case, the only people who will be smiling are those—far-right evangelical Christian Zionists who are praying for Armageddon.
Please read my other articles on the tragedy that is, Gaza
Suneil Sharma
25th January 2025
The Gob 
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