Israel agrees to another one of those ceasefires where Israel does not cease firing

We finally have a ceasefire in Gaza. Unfortunately, it looks like one of those ceasefires where Israel keeps firing until the deal inevitably collapses, and the western world blames Hamas. Still, any ceasefire, even a flawed one, could lead to a reduction in the number of deaths, and a reduction is better than nothing, I guess.

Phase one of the ceasefire is supposed to be underway and Itamar Ben Gvir is livid, even though Israel seems to be massacring Palestinians like normal. Here is footage of an Israeli attack that took place shortly after the ceasefire was agreed.

The civilians were reportedly attacked by tanks while celebrating the announcement of the ceasefire. It seems Israel decided to postpone the ceasefire and massacre them out of pure spite. There were many more such attacks across Gaza and the first is understood to have taken place just 20 minutes after the ceasefire was agreed. If this is a sign of things to come, the hope of a reduction in the killing rate might be wishful thinking.

One attack reportedly took place at a residential home in Al Shabra where 40 people were sheltering and four were killed. I’m unclear on the number of injuries, but here is footage of one of the victims with the gore blurred out:

It’s hard to know just how many attacks have taken place since the ceasefire was agreed because some reports could be of the same incident. It seems to be in the range of 12-15 bombings, but given there are no journalists left in Gaza, it’s possible more have gone unreported.

Here is footage of an explosion in Gaza that I understand took place earlier today:

If you have agreed a ceasefire, there is no reason to continue bombing, unless your goal is not peace. It is unclear exactly when the ceasefire was originally meant to start, but Israel started withdrawing its troops a few hours ago.

Israel agreed to pull back its forces to a line bisecting Gaza, but not to leave Gaza completely. What that means in real terms is anyone’s guess, but I’m assuming Israel thinks it’s fine for air attacks to continue. Here is footage of a helicopter attack in Gaza City:

Here is footage of Israeli war planes:

To be clear, both of these air attacks took place after the ceasefire agreement. Pulling back your forces but letting the bombs continue to fall is not a ceasefire - it’s just a break for your soldiers.

Let’s not forget that we had a ceasefire nine months ago and we all know what heppened there. Every time Israel agrees to a ceasefire, it goes on a massive killing spree, as though it must get as much killing in as possible at the last minute. It then decides it doesn’t like the ceasefire and abandons it.

Obviously, I have zero faith in Israel honouring the ceasefire agreement, but let’s take a look at it anyway:

One good piece of news is that there will be a prisoner swap. Hamas will release all remaining Israeli prisoners within 72 hours and Israel will release about 2,000 Palestinian hostages. The bodies of the dead will be returned. While this is good, let’s not forget Israel will still have around 7-8,000 Palestinian hostages when this swap is complete. Israel, it seems, has the right to keep hostages.

The Rafah crossing will finally open both ways, allowing in unrestricted humanitarian aid. Israel’s idea of “unrestricted” is different to everyone else’s, but this aid will be coming through Egypt.

Importantly, the ceasefire does not allow for the forced displacement of Palestinians, and it does allow for some Palestinians to return home, meaning it is a major roadblack for the Greater Israel Project. This explains why Ben-Gvir is so mad and why few believe the ceasefire will last.

The next phase of the ceasefire would involve the dismantlement of Hamas, however, Hamas would only agree to disarm if there was a cast iron guarantee of no return to war. There is talk of a potential role for the Palestinian Authority in the governance of Gaza, but given that Tony Blair is meant to be taking over for the next five years, the situation is clear as mud.

The fearless Palestinians have already begun returning north on foot, having walked across their country multiple times throughout this genocide. They will likely find their homes are rubble, and they will face the threat of undetonated explosives and dangerous conditions, but even this would be an upgrade on the hell they’ve endured…

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