[News] A ceasefire is in place, but it's not the victory that Netanyahu wanted

[Anti-Imperialist News]

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<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210521-a-ceasefire-is-in-place-but-its-not-the-victory-that-netanyahu-wanted/> 



  A ceasefire is in place, but it's not the victory that Netanyahu wanted

Motasem A Dallou - May 21, 2021
------------------------------------------------------------------------

As I write it is almost midnight on Thursday, and after a two-and-a-half 
hour meeting of Israel's security cabinet it has been reported that 
there is to be a ceasefire in the military offensive against the Gaza 
Strip, where I live. According to Israeli journalist Yaron Avraham on 
/Channel 12/, the Israeli army will stop its shelling of Gaza 
immediately, but it will be resumed if the Palestinian resistance groups 
do not stop firing rockets towards the occupation state.

The Egyptian government told the Palestinian factions in Gaza that a 
ceasefire with Israel will start on Friday at 2am. Israeli Prime 
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed that the security cabinet 
had approved this unanimously. The ministers agreed to "accept the 
Egyptian initiative for a mutual ceasefire without any conditions…"

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan confirmed the reports, and pointed 
out that, "The Palestinian resistance will be ready to respond to any 
Israeli violations." /Al Jazeera/ reported that Cairo had informed Hamas 
leader Ismail Haniyeh, who is based in Doha, that the ceasefire will 
take effect at 2am on Friday.

Earlier, Israeli army officers claimed to have made "unprecedented" 
gains over the past eleven days of bombardment. "Hamas is deterred and 
has suffered serious blows," one officer is reported to have told ministers.

The bombardment began after the Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza 
responded to more than 20 days of Israeli violence against Palestinian 
worshippers in Al-Aqsa Mosque, and Israel's refusal to abandon plans to 
expel a number of Palestinian families from their homes in Jerusalem's 
Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood. The homes were to be handed over to illegal 
Jewish settlers through a lengthy and false legal process.

When the resistance groups responded to the Israeli violations they set 
several goals, including an end to settler and police harassment and 
provocation in Al-Aqsa Mosque, and no expulsion of Palestinians from 
Sheikh Jarrah. Israel's goals in pounding Gaza included the destruction 
of the resistance infrastructure and the re-imposition of the army's 
deterrence factor.

*READ: The pro-Israel lobby fears that support could self-destruct over 
the bombing of Gaza 
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210519-the-pro-israel-lobby-fears-that-support-could-self-destruct-over-the-bombing-of-gaza/> 
*

 From day one, the Palestinian resistance surprised Israel with its 
ability to fire hundreds of rockets of varying ranges, which in turn 
imposed another kind of lockdown on around 70 per cent of Israel, which 
had just come out of the Covid lockdown, as air raid sirens sounded and 
the people ran to the bomb shelters. The Palestinian rockets even 
paralysed Ben Gurion Airport.

Despite claims to the contrary, the Israeli attacks on Gaza were one 
failure after another. The first wave hit two gatherings of civilians, 
killing children in Jabalia and Beit Hanoun. The army used drones to 
identify military targets, but failed to find any. Undaunted, it 
continued to target civilians while claiming to be targeting resistance 
facilities and fighters.

Every morning, following heavy and brutal overnight bombardments of 
civilians and civilian infrastructure, army spokesman Avichay Adraee 
briefed the media about the military facilities, rocket launchers, 
tunnels and fighters that had been targeted. The reality is that Israeli 
bombs and missiles were hitting residential buildings, government 
offices and civilian infrastructure, including strategic roads and 
junctions — which meant, for example, that ambulances couldn't get to 
the main Al-Shifa Hospital with casualties — as well as the telecom, 
water, sewage and electricity networks. Most of all, the bulk of the 
casualties have been civilians, mainly children and women.

Palestinians carry a model of Dome of the Rock as they gather for a 
celebration after "mutual and simultaneous" cease-fire deal between 
Israel and Hamas took effect at 2 am Friday (2300GMT Thursday), ending 
the 11-day conflict, in Rafah, Gaza on 21 May 2021. [Abed Rahim Khatib - 
Anadolu Agency]

Palestinians carry a model of Dome of the Rock as they gather for a 
celebration after "mutual and simultaneous" cease-fire deal between 
Israel and Hamas took effect at 2 am Friday (2300GMT Thursday), ending 
the 11-day conflict, in Rafah, Gaza on 21 May 2021. [Abed Rahim Khatib – 
Anadolu Agency]

On what has turned out to be the final day of the offensive, the Israeli 
army claimed that it had killed 160 Palestinian fighters, including 
senior officials, even though of the 232 people killed by its bombs, 65 
were children, 39 were women and 17 were elderly. The remainder included 
disabled people and other civilians. Israel's claim doesn't add up. It 
has lied in order to appease the audience at home and cover up its war 
crimes to salve the conscience of the ineffectual international community.

One claim made throughout the past week is that Israel had damaged the 
so-called Hamas "Metro", a network of tunnels used by resistance 
fighters. A security source told Israeli /Army Radio/ that this was a 
strategic achievement sold to the cabinet. According to Israeli 
journalist Itamar Eichner speaking on /Kan/ public broadcaster, this was 
fake news, as was the cabinet meeting and vote on the ceasefire 
initiative proposed by Cairo. An investigation conducted by Israeli 
/Channel 11 TV/ found that the "Metro" was an Israeli invention intended 
to be marketed as a military achievement to the Israeli and 
international audience.

While the Israeli cabinet was discussing the ceasefire, Hebrew-language 
news service /Rotter Net/ pointed out that rockets from Gaza were still 
falling across Israel. Retired Brigadier General Zvika Vogel commented 
on the ceasefire saying: "The security situation today is the most 
despicable since 1973. Netanyahu is selling us fake stories which are 
not buyable. We have nothing save the white flag which is the symbol of 
surrender. We are disabled and without operational feasibility. 
Everything for us is bad."

Netanyahu and his defence team, which were involved in launching the 
offensive, are hiding from the media. A spokesman for the Palestinian 
resistance groups, meanwhile, took to the airwaves to announce the 
ceasefire and at the same time warn Netanyahu and the Israeli army that 
any violation of the agreement would bring the rockets back to the skies 
above Israeli cities.

*READ: The agony of Palestinian dispossession 
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210521-the-agony-of-palestinian-dispossession/> 
*

"This is a strong blow to Israeli deterrence," said Israeli Knesset 
Member Gideon Saar about what is said to be a unilateral ceasefire. 
"Halting the military action without imposing restrictions on the 
reinforcement of Hamas power and armaments would be a political failure 
for which we will pay the price."

Political and crime commentator for Israeli /Channel 13 TV/, Aviad 
Glickman, wrote on Twitter: "It seems that the Prime Minister is afraid 
of briefing the citizens of his country about the latest updates. So 
that, we have the news from /Al Jazeera/ and Arabic media."

According to Netanyahu's political partner Itamar Ben-Gvir MK, "The 
ceasefire is a spit in the face of the people in the south [of Israel]." 
He pledged that he will not support Netanyahu's bid to cobble together 
another coalition government despite backing him before the offensive.

If Netanyahu really believed that he has won, he would have posed for 
the media and held a press conference to brag about his victory. But 
what his army did in Gaza was shameful, as it only killed civilians and 
destroyed their infrastructure and facilities.

Almog Ben Zikri from /Haaretz/ reported that the Palestinian resistance 
fired 4,369 rockets at Israel during the 11 days of the offensive 
against Gaza, including more than 300 fired during the last 12 hours. 
The Hamas military wing stressed that it is ready for a long battle with 
the occupation state, and reiterated that its stockpile of weapons is 
still full of rockets made from basic materials.

The difference, it noted, is that the resilient freedom fighters are 
supported by international law, which guarantees the right of occupied 
people to resist the occupation power by any means at their disposal. 
Israel's "self-defence" has no such legitimacy. A ceasefire may be in 
place, but it's not the victory that Netanyahu wanted.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not 
necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

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