Stage 1 Ceasefire In Gaza: What Comes Next?
Can Israel restrain itself from committing additional war crimes and reigniting the blaze in Palestine? I doubt it.
Peace Protestors March Through Albuquerque, NM In Support of Ceasefire in Occupied Palestine (Image: Daniel Woods)
With an historic – if “temporary” – ceasefire achieved by Trump a week before he is formally inaugurated back into the Office of the Presidency, it is undeniable that a wave of hope and joy and promise has swept the internet. Across the world, a great many of us have breathed a sigh of relief for our fellows in the Occupied Territories, knowing that if the bombs stop falling now, the stage has been set for a long-term, permanent ceasefire in the region.
A primary question is already coming to mind. Namely, if Netanyahu actually abides by the ceasefire agreement, does this begin the long process of rebuilding and repopulating the devastated Gaza Strip? One would hope.
However, we must be reminded that there is currently a ceasefire in place between Israel and Lebanon which, since day one, has been actively ignored by Israeli forces targeting both combatant and UN Peacekeeper alike in the region. Is there a different incentive structure here that will more adequately hold Israel at bay, or will the bombs begin again the moment survivors have begun to return to their now-long destroyed homes, businesses, places of worship, and schools. Frankly, I am concerned that that will be the case in the middle-term.
We all know Trump and how he operates. Look to North Korea, a purely optical win for the President at the time, and see how this ceasefire agreement could ultimately be another similar stunt purely for the cameras and fame – without the intent or wherewithal to enforce down the line. This move by the incoming-President is not one of empathy, but one of petty politics with no intent of US enforcement after the coming week(s). Trump is concerned with legacy as much as – if not more than – Biden; as a media diva he knows exactly the routines which Liberal Democrats are now enacting as the Mummy President is soon to be wheeled from the Oval Office for the final time, well aware that the waning days of the 46th President are being used to build a wall of credibility, competence, and achievement around Biden. We all know Trump’s pettiness isn’t going to let that slide.
With the news of the ceasefire achieved, the Legacy of 46 is cemented: a doddering war monger who impoverished the United States to pursue a hands-off-the-wheel genocide in the Middle East. Trump has won, vanquishing both Biden and Harris after doing the same to the Clintons almost a decade before.
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