A UN Security Council resolution has called for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Top Israeli officials have indicated that they will not implement it now, thus further widening the rift between the US and Israel caused by the US allowing the resolution to go through by abstaining and not using its veto power as it did on three previous occasions.
A silver lining was spotted when Hamas initially expressed a commitment to the conditions, including a swap of Palestinian prisoners in Israel for Israeli hostages held in Gaza, before falling back on old conditions like a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
If missiles are not launched and guns are silent in the remainder of the month of Ramzan, peace might just be given the chance it deserves. The scenario will, however, be determined only by Mr Benjamin Netanyahu whose hold on the Prime Minister’s post is guaranteed only so long as war operations against Hamas last.
The script could change if all the hostages are released and he can face angry and anxious Israeli citizens again, but that is wishful thinking as much as Hamas’ belief that all Israeli troops will withdraw from Gaza and it can fill the power and administrative vacuum again.
There is a suggestion in the changed US stance that Mr Joe Biden may be under pressure from the looming presidential elections because one set of people has been turning against him after seeing the grave humanitarian crisis that has the Gaza Strip, including Rafah, in its grip. Starving children are being admitted to hospital so they could get something to eat even as the refugees seeking shelter in Rafah are bracing for the operations of Israeli forces against Hamas.
There is no question the war must first end so the horrors can stop. A smidgen of pragmatism is seen in countries putting behind the savagery of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the disproportionate response in Israeli bombing half of Gaza to rubble when they voted in the UN calling for the ceasefire that has a legal binding which Israel may, however, ignore.
The release of the first hostage might well signal the start of a ceasefire. However fragile it may prove to be, it is the only hope that humanity can see the end of this five-month catastrophic conflict that has seen over 30,000 Palestinian deaths after 1,200 Israelis were killed in the Hamas strike and another 200 died during the ensuing war.
