A tale of two ‘virtual’ ceasefires

Following the historic Sharm El-Sheikh summit on Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan in October and since the UN Security Council adopted that plan under Resolution 2803 last week, the US has claimed on several occasions that it has finally brought peace to the Middle East and that “a golden age” awaits the troubled region.

Like many such declarations, one must separate the hyperbole from the improbable. In Gaza’s case, nothing could be further from the sad and dismal reality that more than 2 million Palestinians have been going through since the so-called ceasefire came into effect last month. For Israel, particularly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “ceasefire” can mean many things, but not the cessation of hostilities.

Since the plan was signed by Trump and the guarantors of the agreement, Israel has killed more than 300 Palestinians in Gaza. The multiple ceasefire violations by the Israeli side have included using gunfire against civilians, shelling, airstrikes, property demolitions and arrests. Israel has brazenly reiterated that it is committed to the ceasefire after carrying out every breach, blaming Hamas and others for its response, which is always justified under the guise of self-defense.

But that is not all. Under phase one of the agreement, Israel must open crossing points to allow the unfettered flow of humanitarian aid, medicine, mobile homes, tents and salvaging equipment. The UN and other international agencies have repeatedly described the situation in Gaza as extremely harsh since the ceasefire began, with only a limited improvement in safety and aid access. According to the UN, the situation remains a major humanitarian emergency, with widespread hunger, disease and inadequate shelter despite the pause in large-scale fighting.

For Israel, particularly Netanyahu, ‘ceasefire’ can mean many things, but not the cessation of hostilities

Osama Al-Sharif

Harsh winter conditions have exacerbated the situation, leaving most people still struggling to secure basic necessities such as food, clean water, healthcare and sanitation. With 90 percent of the population displaced and most lacking proper shelter, famine conditions and “catastrophic” hunger persist, with tens of thousands of children suffering acute malnutrition.

Despite setting up a monitoring site inside Israel, the US and other international observers have failed to hold Israel responsible for failing to meet its obligations under the Trump plan or to call it out for breaching the ceasefire multiple times by carrying out strikes and shelling, as well as mass demolitions in areas it occupies in Gaza. In fact, the US has blamed Hamas for threatening the faltering ceasefire, while never blaming Israel for failing to meet its obligations.

The reality is that Israel violates the ceasefire agreement while acting with impunity. It is punishing the entire population of Gaza — forcing them to live in subhuman conditions. Israel has brushed aside appeals by the UN and other agencies to allow more aid in, including 1 million syringes that UNICEF says are needed to inoculate Palestinian children. The agency has said that at least two children are being killed in Gaza every day during the ceasefire.

Israel is using the ceasefire deal to achieve its goals: ethnic cleansing, collective punishment, infanticide, displacement, artificial famine, mass demolitions and controlling aid to prevent most essential foodstuffs, including fresh meat, from entering the Strip. In fact, it is now becoming clear that Israel does not want to see the deal move into phase two, in which an international stabilization force is to be deployed in Gaza, thus delivering the internationalization of the crisis. Nor does it want to see any reconstruction effort take place.

And, according to observers, Israel, which now occupies more than 44 percent of the enclave, does not want to withdraw — ever. In fact, Israel has been tampering with the so-called Yellow Line to encroach on even more Gazan territory.

Another virtual ceasefire deal negotiated by the US is also on the verge of collapse. The one-year-old truce between Lebanon and Israel is one-sided, with Tel Aviv free of any commitment to it. According to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, Israeli forces have been responsible for more than 7,500 air violations and nearly 2,500 ground violations in the past year. This amounts to almost 10,000 breaches in less than a year of the ceasefire, which took effect on Nov. 27, 2024.

According to the UN, Israeli forces carried out more than 500 airstrikes in Lebanon over the first 10 months of the ceasefire, killing at least 108 civilians, including 16 children. Israel has said it was targeting Hezbollah fighters and weapons caches. Still, this week it escalated the situation further by killing the group’s second-in-command and top military leader, Ali Tabatabai, in a strike on Beirut’s southern Dahieh district.

According to the UN, Israel carried out more than 500 airstrikes in Lebanon over the first 10 months of the ceasefire

Osama Al-Sharif

Netanyahu and his defense minister have repeatedly warned that, unless the Lebanese government disarms the pro-Iran group, Israel will do the job itself. The Israeli army, which occupies five strategic points in southern Lebanon, has been carrying out maneuvers in preparation for a possible invasion.

The US has again defended Israel’s right to attack Lebanon, even when such attacks clearly violate the ceasefire agreement and UNSC Resolution 1701. Israel claims, without providing evidence, that Hezbollah has been rearming itself, even as it admits that the party was gravely wounded during last year’s war.

In Lebanon’s case, Washington has clearly taken the side of Israel, while putting pressure on a weak Lebanese government to carry out what has been described as an impossible task: disarming Hezbollah. At the same time, the US has offered no guarantees that, once Hezbollah is neutralized, Israel will withdraw entirely from southern Lebanon and allow the rebuilding of the tens of villages it has destroyed.

In both Gaza and Lebanon, Israel’s concept of a ceasefire clearly has nothing to do with meeting its obligations. Such agreements apply only to the other side, which must withstand Israeli blows without responding. And God forbid if the other side does retaliate. Israel’s military might would be unleashed to punish the culprit.

In Gaza’s case, the US is key to overseeing the deal’s implementation. But it has failed to put pressure on Netanyahu to open the crossing points and allow all humanitarian aid to flow to end the horrific and inhumane conditions that more than 2 million Palestinians are being forced to endure.

In the case of Lebanon, Washington is allowing Israel to wage war under the guise of a ceasefire against a weak and damaged country. Both cases present untenable situations that render the claim of peace in the region comical, if not tragic.

• Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. X: @plato010