Al-Qalam 
What is interesting about the date on which Israel and Hamas agreed to the terms outlined in the ceasefire agreement, the 19th of January? Only that the 2008-2009 war in Gaza codenamed “Operation Cast Lead” by Israel or the “Battle of al-Furqan” by Hamas, ended on the 18th of January 2009 as well.
Coincidentally (or not!), the agreement was concluded prior to the inauguration of then-president Barack Obama, just as the current agreement was concluded on the eve of the inauguration of US President Donald Trump. There has been much speculation about why an agreement which was drafted in May 2024 and is nearly the same as the current one was not agreed to. The common sentiment is that Trump tackled the situation with his usual bulldozer approach and Netanyahu, well aware of who his new bread-butterer would now be, hastened to acquiesce.
There is obviously more to it than that, but it is naïve to think that Trump cares about the liberation of Palestine, and this is why he called for an end to the hostilities. No, he merely wanted the glory of being able to claim credit for doing what seemed to be impossible for his predecessor to achieve to be the backdrop of his inauguration – a message to the world of his imminent power. He and only he could call off the rabid dogs of war where all others had failed.
It is also likely that he didn’t want the shadow of war to mar his special day – perhaps anticipating protests and mass action had he not kept to his promise of unleashing hell if the war was not stopped. He wanted an Instagram friendly inaugural ceremony that was not disturbed by the waving of Palestinian flags. And now that his inauguration has come and gone, his subsequent actions speak volumes. Already he has shrugged off responsibility for maintaining the ceasefire, claiming that it was ‘not their war’ and has rescinded the sanctions on the violent settlers in the West Bank that were imposed by Joe Biden.
There are also reports that he will rescind the order to stop the sale of 2000-pound bombs to Israel. And like all previous ceasefire agreements whose terms were forgotten almost as soon as they were implemented, he most certainly will not hold Israel to its promises of allowing aid into Gaza or regarding the terms of reconstruction. For now, Israel is following the terms, but as soon as the dust settles on the thousands of gravestones in Gaza, they will start tightening the screws again.
As Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Barak said, in relation to the ceasefire agreements in 2012 and 2014, the day after the ceasefire, no one will remember what was written in those agreements. Just as these promises vaporized in 2012 and 2014 after those wars, these may as well. As Dr Finklestein put it: “All the promises that were made will vanish like snow in the spring sunshine”.
Z Khan
Durban
