Israel-Palestinian
conflict: Aid arrives in Gaza as ceasefire holds
After 11 days airstrikes on and rocket attacks from Gaza, Israel
and Hamas agreed to an Egypt-mediated ceasefire on Thursday night. The
truce appears to be holding on Friday with Palestinians taking out celebratory
gatherings across the occupied territories and Israel removing the emergency
restrictions in areas hit by rockets. Both sides have warned that the ceasefire
would hold based on the ground circumstances.
Israel
and Hamas both claimed victory on Friday after their forces ended 11 days of
fighting, but humanitarian officials warned that the damage to Gaza would take
years to rebuild.
The
White House said Washington had received assurances from the relevant parties
that they were committed to the ceasefire.
World
Health Organization spokeswoman Margaret Harris said Gaza’s health facilities
were in danger of being overwhelmed by the thousands of
injuries.
U.S. President Joe Biden said on
Thursday that aid would be sent quickly to Gaza, but coordinated with the
Palestinian Authority - Hamas's Western-backed rival in the occupied West Bank
- "in a manner that does not permit Hamas to simply restock its military
arsenal".
What led to the ceasefire?
Unlike in 2014, when the last major fighting between
Israel and Hamas occurred, the Israeli troops were wary of launching a ground
invasion this time.
In a ground
attack, Israel could inflict more damage on Hamas, but the risk of losing
Israeli soldiers would also be high.
This time, the focus of Israel’s military campaign,
which started on May 10, was on leaving maximum damage to Hamas’s militant infrastructure
through airstrikes.
In the first 10
days of the fighting, Israel carried out more than 1,800 airstrikes on Gaza,
according to the UN.
But one issue with offensives that are heavily focused
on air power is that they need a quicker exit strategy.
Airstrikes will leave disproportionate civilian
casualties. And disproportionate airstrikes, which was Israel’s strategy, will
have even greater damage, inviting international pressure.
What’s next?
Ceasefires can be fragile.
In 2014, after the ceasefire was announced, Israel
attempted to assassinate Hamas’s shadowy military commander Mohammed Deif, but
failed.
It was followed
by more rocket attacks.
This time, too, the truce is tenuous.
Hamas says it
accepted truce after Israel promised “to lift their hands off Sheikh Jarrah
(where Palestinians face eviction from their houses) and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Israeli side has denied any such promise
and emphasised that the ceasefire was unconditional.
Israel has already removed some restrictions it had
imposed on Al-Aqsa, which it says was a temporary security measure and Hamas
could take credit for the same. But Sheikh Jarrah is a more complicated matter.
The Supreme
Court of Israel is supposed to give a final ruling on the eviction of
Palestinians in the neighbourhood.
If Israel goes
ahead with the eviction process, there could be more protests and violence.
Israeli leaders
say there won’t be lasting peace as long as Hamas has rockets. Hamas says there
will be rockets as long as the occupation continues.
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