Israel and Hamas agree for truce after 11 days of fighting, uneasy ceasefire holds

Israel and Hamas agreed to an Egyptian proposal of ceasefire on Thursday which came into effect today after 11 days of fighting which saw rocket attacks by Hamas on Israel and devastating air strikes by IDF on Gaza. The conflict left over 230 people dead on Gaza side and 12 people lost their lives in Israel. Over 70000 people were displaced as Palestinians fled their homes to safer areas outside Gaza city.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s office announced the ceasefire and a security cabinet statement called it “mutual and unconditional”. As the ceasefire took effect, Palestinians left their homes and returned to the streets of Gaza. Some shouted “Allahu akbar”, while others whistled from their balconies. Hamas claimed victory immediately after ceasefire came into effect, but the hard reality is that heavy losses to life and property have been inflicted upon the Gaza residents and particularly Hamas military infrastructure. U .S. President Joe Biden pledged to salvage the devastated Gaza Strip and the United Nations has urged renewed Israeli-Palestinian dialogue.

The rocket attacks by Hamas and an airstrike by Israel continued till ceasefire came into force at 2.00AM local time Friday. Mosque loud-speakers feted “the victory of the resistance achieved over the Occupation (Israel).” Cars driving around East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah at dawn flew Palestinian flags and honked horns, echoing the scenes in Gaza. The peace however remains uneasy as both sides said it stood ready to retaliate for any truce violations by the other. Egypt said it would send two delegations to monitor the ceasefire.

Israel has maintained its claim that its actions were in self defence and in retaliation to unprovoked rocket attacks by Hamas from Gaza wherein almost 4500 rockets were fired in last 11 days. The IDF said that its air strikes destroyed tunnels used by Hamas, militant commanders’ homes, rocket launching sites and weapons production and storage facilities. The rocket operation was named as “Sword of Jerusalem” by Hamas and experts feel that it was an attempt to marginalize Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem, he has little influence in any case in Gaza.

Hamas now faces the daunting challenge of rebuilding in a territory already suffering from poverty, widespread unemployment and a raging coronavirus outbreak. Time and again it has been proved that the Israeli Palestine conflict is an issue which cannot  be solved by a war with the victor getting his way to settle things. Many times it is the manifestation of internal power struggles between various factions like Hamas with control over Gaza or Fatah having upper hand in Jerusalem trying to be the torchbearer of Palestinian cause. Israel always reacts with disproportional force to make an impact and ensure its survival as any weakness will be taken as a trigger for renewed attacks by hostile neighbours and armed groups surrounding it. Only visible images after any ceasefire is the destruction and human suffering  imposed on the population which takes years to come to terms with. Peaceful reconciliation and coexistence still appear distant as another truce takes effect, how long it holds is difficult to foresee.