Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Lays Bare Bitter Realities Of Islamic Nations And The West

By New Age Islam Staff Writer 20 January 2025 The Credit Of The Ceasefire Deal Was Claimed By Joe Biden But Hamas Has Claimed That The Deal Was Finalised Due To Pressure From The New President Donald Trump Main Points: 1. The ceasefire comes into effect on Sunday. 2. In the first phase, 33 Israeli prisoners will be released. 3. Israel will release 30 Palestinian prisoners for every Israeli captive. 1. 4.The first phase of the ceasefire will be of 42 days. 4. 600 trucks of food and medicine will enter Gaza daily. 2. 6.Gazans will return to their homes. 3. 7. Israeli forces will return to the borders. ---- Demonstrators hold torches as they gather during a protest calling for the release of all hostages held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. Oded Balilty/AP ----- The Israel-Hamas ceasefire has got underway and the people of Gaza are celebrating the uncertain truce. Israel has also released 90 prisoners in return of three Israeli prisoners released by Hamas on Sunday. The credit of the ceasefire deal was claimed by Joe Biden but Hamas has claimed that the deal was finalised due to pressure from the new President Donald trump. The war between Israel and Hamas raged for fifteen months thanks to the support of the US under Joe Biden and some European countries like Germany, France, UK, Italy etc. Joe Biden provided financial aid and arms supply to Israel and was equally responsible for the genocide in Gaza. But when the ceasefire was finalised on the 16th of January, Joe Biden rushed to claim the credit for the ceasefire. According to reports and columns in the newspapers in the US, Trump had talked tough to Netanyahu on the issue of ceasefire and had threatened to stop aid from the US if Netanyahu did not agree to a ceasefire. The deal would have been finalised in July last year but for the opposition of Ben Guir and Smotrich, two of Netanyahu's Zionist allies who wanted the war to continue. Itamar Ben Guir himself acknowledged that he sabotaged ceasefire deal a number of times. The ceasefire lays bare some bitter truths of the Western and Eastern countries. Trumps tough message to Netanyahu did the job whereas Netanyahu had been pretending to be interested in ceasefire and return of hostages though in reality he was only buying time. At a number of junctures, it appeared that the deal had finalised but Netanyahu pressurised by his Zionist allies scuttled the deal. This was because Netanyahu was never short of arms and the money. The US and the UK proactively supported Israel's war on innocent and unarmed civilians. They even backed Israel in the Security Council. Trump's role in the ceasefire is evident because of his foreign policy. During his tenure, Trump had pursued the policy of non-engagement of the US army in other countries. Therefore, between 2017 and 2021, there was a drawdown of the US forces in the Middle East and other countries. The ISIS which was created by the Obama administration and was strengthened by it to capture large parts of Iraq and Syria and to establish its so-called caliphate was also decimated. The leader of the ISIS, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi was killed in 2019 during Trump's first tenure. After that the ISIS started carrying out terror strikes in countries like Sri Lanka, Philippines, Afghanistan and European countries to assert its strength. The ISIS was again used by the Biden administration during Gaza war against Russia, Iran and Syria. The terrorist attack by the ISIS in New York on New Year seems only a reminder to Trump that it was down but not out. The US support to Al Qaida affiliate Al Julani has not gown down well with the ISIS. Trump's motive behind the ceasefire was to prevent further economic burden on the US before his swearing in as he would have to foot the bill of the military extravaganza of the Biden administration. Secondly, Trump also realised that it was not a direct one to one war between Israel and Hamas but was a complicated war with proxies of Iran and Russia like Syria, Hezbollah and Houthis also in the fray. The US had to fight and incur loss and damage due to the attacks of the Houthis and Hezbollah on the US military targets in Iraq, Syria and the seas. Therefore, it had become a long expensive war for the US. It had to support Ukraine on the one hand and Israel on the other. The soldiers on the two fronts were tired and exhausted. On many fronts, the IDF soldiers had refused to fight any longer. The Ukrainian soldiers had also left the war. This compelled Trump to force Netanyahu to stop the war and be prepared to face the consequences of his obstinacy. As for the Islamic countries, their connivance with Israel became public during the Gaza war. The Arab League and the OIC proved to be paper tigers. The nuclear power Pakistan watched in silence while Palestinians were butchered. Turkey's self proclaimed caliph of the Islamic world could not do anything for the Palestinians except announcing symbolic boycott of Israeli products. It ensured regular supplies of vegetables and arms to Israel covertly. Saudi Arabia also only paid lip service to the Palestinians and continued business and trade with Israel as usual. Therefore, Palestinians are rightly claiming that they won this peace alone as the Islamic world did not give support to them. The Islamic world remained silent spectators as they were massacred, made to starve and tortured in the worst manner. The Islamic organisations only passed resolutions and demonstrated their oratorial skills in world political platforms. The political analysts are of the view that given Netanyahu's track record, he may back out from the ceasefire deal. However, the possibilities of his backing out are slim because of the high stakes involved in this war. Unlike earlier wars between Israel and Hamas, this time Palestinians got moral and diplomatic support from.across the world. Netanyahu's government was condemned from all over the world. Secondly, Israeli citizens also had to bear the brunt of the war as they had to leave their home towns to take shelter in bunkers and relief camps. Many towns were destroyed by the attacks of Hamas, Houthis and Hezbollah. It has crippled Israel's economy. Therefore, Netanyahu will think twice before breaching the deal. All said and done, the ceasefire brings peace and respite not only for the Palestinians but also for the war torn world which was emotionally and economically exhausted due to the fifteen month cycle of death and destruction. May peace prevail permanently in Gaza. 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