Israel under soaring global pressure for Gaza ceasefire

A political volleyball

The issue of discussions and negotiations pertaining to any kind of proposal for ceasefire — whether it be permanent or temporary — is a form of political volleyball that is used by various parties, particularly those that want to bide time.

And the most important factor or element in any negotiation, for a resolution of a conflict, is time: in terms of when such an agreement is reached by all parties, as well as for how long the agreement runs.

In the case of Gaza, this is something which Israel in particular — which has an agenda and a clear project and objective that it wishes to achieve — now almost nine months on, has all but failed to achieve, apart from creating immeasurable devastation and destruction.

Absolutely nothing has been achieved and, for that, Netanyahu and his government come under immense pressure from inside Israel. And we are seeing his coalition partners withdraw one by one, for that very reason.

Otherwise, had he or his generals been achieving any kind of success, then that would rightly be flagged, celebrated, and amplified by him and his media. But no such positive or such victory is being seen or has been attained.

So the Israelis want to continue without the nuisance of international partners getting involved, without them being seen as this rabid, monstrous, genocidal, murdering machine — which they are — but rather, a party that is partner to negotiations over some sort of ceasefire, and therefore has a crumb of political validity or decency.

And it can always go back to that, whenever it goes beyond the pale and the world discovers either mass graves or crimes committed against humanity, such as the countless that have now been catalogued.

Partners in crime or genuine friendship?

Besides time, you have another aspect which is deeply problematic and that is the partners to these negotiations, especially if many of those partners happen to be dishonest and/or disingenuous, partners who seem to act for the benefit of one side, yet actually represent the benefits of another.

And in this case particularly, I would point out the Egyptians.

On a number of occasions, not just once, it was recognised that the Egyptians had presented to the Palestinian side a paper which they claimed was approved by Israel and the Americans. It turned out to be neither.

On another occasion, they claimed that a proposal put forward by the Palestinians was approved, when they had actually tampered with the conditions and sent what was more or less terms that were stipulated by the Israelis.

So, in a way, they came back to the Palestinians, telling them that the Israelis had approved a proposal which was issued more or less by the Israelis!

The best negotiating partner or mediator

Given the above, you have a very big problem. Especially when there aren't that many options for the Palestinians.

The Qataris have been strangled almost, in terms of the pressure piled on them regionally by the Saudis and Emiratis, as well as internationally from the Americans. And therefore, if not due to the fact they had been totally paralysed in the ability to move on this, I would have said that they'd have been the ideal negotiating partners.

But in order so that the Egyptians enter the fray, they have had to more or less leave the table, and act as backdoor mediators/negotiators; basically acting as postmen, merely taking letters, ideas, proposals, and objections from one side to another.

Negotiations will likely continue for some time

I think negotiations over reaching a ceasefire are going to carry on for a while, until the Israelis feel there is no more to be done, now that they have hit Nuseirat for a second time. And they could definitely go back to Rafah and hit it for another wave of demolition and genocide.

But then, there is only so much they could destroy and demolish, before there is so much pressure from within Israel, and also their international partners feel that there is so much to lose by allowing Israel to continue, that they will have to come to an end, and seem as though they have abided by an international process to reach a resolution, and hence, salvage some political credibility.

World we are living in has no sense of morality

In any world that one would think of, the Israelis have long crossed the lines of credibility, or decency, or morality, of any kind of political acceptance, a long time ago.

But unfortunately, we don't live in that world. We live in a world where power and might is seen as the legitimate party, and the Palestinians will always be the aggressors and they will always be seen as such, however many children are killed from their side.

It doesn't matter the number of hospitals destroyed, it doesn't matter the wave of genocide and war crimes committed against it, it will always be the aggressor in the eyes of those who have the might.

And Israel will always have the United States and, thereby, the United Nations Security Council on its side. And therefore, no real process to negotiate a ceasefire or a settlement of any sort will be possible under the conditions that I have mentioned.

Biggest obstacles to ceasefire are the negotiators and mediators

Obviously, then, you have other terms in regards to exchange of prisoners and hostages, in regards to allowing precisely who and what inside Gaza to rebuild or to reconstruct, to provide people with aid, be that food, medicine, education, construction — all of those thousands upon thousands of tonnes that are required to maintain and sustain and continue life within the Gaza Strip.

Likewise, the return of people to their homes, the million or so that were displaced from the North to the South, only then to be attacked in the so-called 'safe zone' of Rafah (if anyone recalls), and how that will happen. And so on and so forth.

There are so many conditions within such a peace agreement, each of which has so much weight and so many implications that, to be perfectly honest, I don't see them as serious. I don't see them as the biggest stumbling blocks. They are but details.

If anything, the biggest stumbling blocks, in my view, are the negotiating or mediating partners and the dynamics in which the negotiations are taking place with the element of time being instrumental.