Editorial | Gaza ceasefire is a means not an end to decades of conflict
- A four-day cessation to hostilities, while welcome, is hardly the answer; as Chinese President Xi Jinping rightly said, a two-state solution is the only viable route to peace
Hamas and Israel have finally agreed to a mediated deal that will pause the military assault on Gaza and clear the way for a prisoner exchange. Images of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees freed under the deal will be superimposed on those of civilian death, destruction and suffering – temporarily.
The four-day ceasefire has cleared the way for their release, but no more.
Israel remains committed to obliterating Hamas from Gaza politically and militarily in retaliation for a surprise attack on October 7 that killed about 1,200 Israelis. The cost in innocent Palestinian – not Hamas – lives has long since been not even remotely proportional.
It is inhumane and indiscriminate on a scale rarely seen before. When the shooting and bombing resumes regardless, it will not be the first time mistrust and hatred have prevailed over compassion and wisdom, not to mention fears of a “forever war”, or one with no apparent end short of a two-state solution in which Israelis and Palestinians live peacefully and securely side-by-side.
That involves acceptance of the right of the Palestinian people to an independent state.