[News] Why Israel Never Intended to Respect the Gaza Ceasefire

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  Why Israel Never Intended to Respect the Gaza Ceasefire – Analysis

October 24, 2025
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Two Palestinian teenagers were killed by Israeli snipers, in another 
violation of the ceasefire agreement. (Photo: via QNN)

*By Robert Inlakesh 
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/robert-inlakesh>*


          Despite ceasefire agreements, Israel has no intention to honor
          its side of the deal.  It is pursuing, in earnest, its goal
          following October 7, to ethnically cleanse Gaza and to
          ‘reshape’ the Middle East through brute force.

Israel has been committing daily violations of the Gaza ceasefire and is 
currently hatching a scheme designed to achieve its various goals 
through different means. In reality, what has been imposed is not a 
cessation of the war, or even a ceasefire; instead, it is a clearly set 
agenda that is developing into something more pernicious by the day.

While countless analysts had fallen into the trap of believing that the 
“20-point plan” set forth by the US Trump administration and the 
subsequent imposition of a “ceasefire” were actually designed with the 
intention of ending the conflict in Gaza, we are already seeing this 
notion fall apart, piece by piece.


        *Understanding Israel’s Thinking*

The issue here, in the mainstream discourse on Gaza and which also 
injects itself into the alternative media’s framing, is a fundamental 
misunderstanding of the nature of what is happening in Gaza. To some, 
this may seem trivial and elementary yet, if the foundation of one’s 
ability to comprehend the issue at hand is flawed, it will manifest 
itself in the broader conclusions drawn.

While it is now widely accepted that genocide is what Israel has 
inflicted on Gaza, it is important to consider the implications of this 
understanding. Genocide, in the case of Gaza, broadly speaking, means 
the extermination of the population in part or whole, which immediately 
does away with the notion that Israel is simply fighting Hamas. Although 
this concept is easily and widely understood, a thorough look at what is 
happening is largely absent.

If Israel is committing genocide, which it undoubtedly is, this 
conclusion begs a number of questions. The most obvious is: Why?

Some would argue that the Israelis have committed genocide in the Gaza 
Strip as an act of revenge, a desire for blood and that this was 
motivated by the acts carried out by Palestinian armed factions on 
October 7, 2023. Yet, this argument makes little sense.

It not only makes no sense from a post-October 7 perspective, but a 
historical one, too. If simply revenge was the motivating factor, this 
would completely discount the long history of Israeli persecution of, 
and indiscriminate violence visited upon, the Palestinian people. It 
also discounts the objectives of Zionism, which is to conquer all of 
what is deemed “Eretz Israel”.

In the years leading up to October 7, 2023, the death toll inside the 
West Bank was growing to the point that it reached levels not seen since 
the Second Intifada in the early 2000s. Israeli fanatical settlers 
continuously encroached upon Al-Aqsa Mosque, as Christian sites of 
worship also fell victim to State-backed violence and restrictions.

Communities across the West Bank were under the constant threat of 
ethnic cleansing, experiencing routine pogroms carried out under the 
watchful eye of the Israeli authorities, as the political echelon sought 
to impose its de jure annexation over at least Area C (60 percent) of 
the territory. Gaza’s population, meanwhile, living in a territory 
declared by UN experts to have been unlivable by 2020, was left to rot 
in a concentration camp.

Israel has visited various chapters of death and destruction on the Gaza 
Strip, whether that be through the inhuman siege over the past two 
decades, or the various bombardments that murdered hundreds and, in the 
worst cases, thousands, of civilians. This story dates all the way back 
to 1948, when the Gaza Strip was created out of the refugee population 
ethnically cleansed from their lands, which the Zionists now call 
Israel, where they have since experienced every hardship imaginable at 
the hands of their Israeli oppressors.

In 2014, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried, through a 
51-day war of aggression, to find an answer to what Israel has called 
its “Gaza question”, but failed to find any kind of military solution. 
When, for instance, the Israeli military attempted to go after the Hamas 
tunnel infrastructure and engaged directly with the Palestinian 
resistance, they suffered heavy casualties and four of their soldiers 
were seized as prisoners of war.

Come 2017, Hamas was both put under strain and also birthed a number of 
initiatives that sought to achieve political goals through compromise 
and non-violence. The movement issued a new Charter that accepted a 
long-term ceasefire settlement that would achieve a “Two-State” 
solution, additionally condemning anti-Semitism, amongst other things.

Hamas also began the process that year of signing a unity deal with the 
Palestinian Authority (PA), whereby the Ramallah-based authority was set 
to take over the governance of Gaza. To this effect, PA forces even 
began to be deployed to the Rafah border, amidst broad celebrations 
across the Gaza Strip. Yet, the US and Israel applied pressure that 
collapsed the agreement.

Later that year, the PA began reducing and slashing the salaries of its 
employees in Gaza, placing even greater strain on Hamas, eventually 
leading to Israel setting up its controversial Qatari aid delivery 
system, used to stop the situation from boiling over into a larger-scale 
conflict or tit-for-tat that would cause issues, particularly for the 
surrounding Israeli settlements.

In 2018, Hamas even threw its weight behind the Great March of Return. 
Many do not know this, but while Hamas used to respond to Israel’s 
routine airstrikes across Gaza, up until November 11, when Israel 
attempted and failed to kidnap a senior Hamas commander in Gaza, the 
movement did not even fire rockets in retaliation to Israeli aggression.

Ultimately, the doctrine of non-violence resulted in the murder of 
hundreds of civilians and a health system crisis where tens of thousands 
suffered injuries. The Western mainstream media lied for Israel, 
claiming that the protests were riots and that Israel was defending its 
“border”, neither of which was true.

Time and time again, Hamas had tried to find a solution to Gaza’s 
unlivable predicament, yet the Israelis were set on leaving the 
territory there as an unfixable problem, which could be contained 
through periodic massacres and assassinations of leaders, something that 
had been happening for decades, beyond just the major wars in 2008-9, 
2012, 2014, and 2021.

Instead, the Israelis were chasing the expansion of the “Abraham 
Accords” to include Saudi Arabia and others, killing what was known as 
the “Arab Peace Initiative”, a plan set forth by Riyadh that set a 
Palestinian State based upon the 1967 borders as a pre-requisite for 
normalization.

By October 7, 2023, Israel was pushing forward with its West Bank 
annexation efforts, had been expanding its ethnic cleansing of East 
Jerusalem and had sidelined Gaza. When Hamas launched operation Al-Aqsa 
Flood, it collapsed Israel’s southern command, dealt the strongest 
military blow Israel had ever experienced and shook up the entire 
surrounding region also.

The Israelis saw it very clearly that two things had just occurred, 
leading to polar opposite paths. Israel now had its “re-birth” or 
disintegration moment to deal with. Exactly what Israel’s senior 
leadership asserted about their intentions for Gaza is precisely what 
they began pursuing, and still are, after two years.

In their eyes, the whole game changed. It was time to accelerate their 
plans that were designed to play out over a decade; now had come their 
opportunity to “solve the Gaza question” and “reshape the Middle East” 
through brute force.

This is why Israel has spent so much time demolishing Gaza as part of 
its genocide. Still, today, its military, along with private Israeli 
civilian contractors who are paid danger money for their work, are 
demolishing the remaining Palestinian civilian infrastructure that 
remains behind what Israel calls the “Yellow Line” (54-58 percent of Gaza).

Logically, if the Israelis have just committed genocide and are 
currently continuing to not only murder civilians daily, but demolish 
the remaining buildings in the Gaza Strip, does it make any sense that 
they have accepted an end to the conflict? Such a conclusion would be 
somewhat delusional.

What Israel is doing is sticking to its war goals, which it sought to 
achieve on October 7, 2023. Although some are able to see this clearly, 
they make another key mistake in their understanding of the current 
predicament, that is, that this plan is localized to Palestine, or even 
just Gaza.

This was the same mistake that many regional players, as part of the 
Iranian-led Axis of Resistance, made. Only upon the assassination of 
Hezbollah leader, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, did this element of Israel’s 
overarching scheme fully sink in, as many were misled to believe that 
Gaza was the only true target.

In the eyes of the Israelis, if the people of Gaza are still there, then 
eventually resistance will return, and the issue will go back to the 
start, once again. Logically, this also makes sense, given what the 
Israelis have done to the people there, the desire for revenge and 
resistance will only have grown, even if all the armed groups there are 
disarmed and the next wave of resistance takes decades to manifest itself.

Meanwhile, an even bigger threat lurks to the north, where Hezbollah 
still very much exists. Although propagandists claim that the group is 
over, the Israeli leadership understands this not to be the case.

As many argue that Hezbollah is “done”, consider the following: Hamas 
was not even a fraction of the military force that Hezbollah currently 
is – even in a weaker state – on October 7, 2023, yet still managed to 
collapse Israel’s southern command and its fighters were carrying out 
operations across the separation barrier for at least two days after the 
initial attack.

If Hezbollah so chose to, it could undoubtedly deliver severe blows 
against the Israelis. In fact, if Hezbollah’s fighters were to prove 
capable of penetrating the borders and entering the Galilee, such a 
military disaster for Israel would represent an undoing of the 
objectives it sought to achieve through its genocide in Gaza.

The Gaza genocide was a strategy, one to completely destroy the 
territory and inflict a defeat upon the Palestinian national resistance, 
through mass slaughter, to demoralize them, and make it impossible for 
the people to remain living inside Gaza. It was also a message to the 
regional resistance and the Arab world, in general, that if you 
challenge Israel militarily, you will suffer the same fate.

The Israelis are not about to sit around and wait for a resistance force 
to develop inside Syria, for the Lebanese resistance to strengthen 
itself to a degree where it will become a force capable of “deterrence”, 
or to allow for Iran to occupy the same counterweight to it regionally 
that it did prior to October 7, 2023. “Total victory” is what Benjamin 
Netanyahu constantly reiterates as his goal and, even after the 
ceasefire was imposed in Gaza, he openly stated that “the war is not over”.


        *The Impossible ‘Peace Plan’*

Israel, for years, not only among its leading political parties but its 
Jewish population at large, has rejected the notion of even negotiating 
for a Palestinian State on a mere 22 percent of historic Palestine. The 
only major issue standing in Israel’s way was the Palestinian population 
still living there and the regional military alliance that stood for its 
cause and encouraged armed struggle.

In January of 2020, US President Donald Trump revealed what he called 
his “Deal of the Century” plan. If you look at the details of it,  this 
aligns not only with previous proposals set forth by Israel’s Likud 
Party, that were not taken seriously by the Americans, at that point, 
but also with the so-called “Peace Deal” that is being proposed today.

It is to say that a divided series of cantons, or mini-concentration 
camps, be set up under a Palestinian Authority-led administration. A 
plan under which the Jordan Valley area and other portions of Area C in 
the West Bank will be annexed, occupied Jerusalem will be seized 
entirely by Israel, and Abu Dis, located East of Jerusalem behind 
Israel’s Wall of separation, will be the de facto Palestinian capital. 
Trump’s current proposal takes the “Deal of the Century” and strips it 
down even further.

While the Europeans and Arab nations propose a Palestinian “State”, with 
East Jerusalem as its capital, offering their so-called “New York 
Declaration” as a framework, the Trump administration has accepted this 
vision with two primary caveats, so far: No actual Palestinian State, no 
capital in occupied East Jerusalem.

The New York Declaration initiative, put together by Saudi Arabia and 
France, declares that so-called “non-State actors” will be drowned out 
of the picture and are to be barred from the political process; in other 
words, only their favored candidates from the mainstream branch of Fatah 
will be considered valid for elections. This means no democracy.

The Saudi-French vision also states that Palestine must be 
demilitarized, making it the only State on earth barred from having an 
army. There would be no repercussions for Israel’s genocide, of course; 
in fact, they will be rewarded under this vision. Palestine will also be 
a State whereby the leadership will have no say over its own education 
program, instead adopting a foreign-Israeli re-education program.

As laid out during French President Emmanuel Macron’s United Nations 
General Assembly speech, this initiative also demands the disarmament of 
Hamas and the introduction of an international force that would enter 
Gaza, only under the strict conditions and coordination of the Israelis.

It suffices to say that both proposals, from the US and its allies, are 
very similar, except that one seeks to please the corrupt Palestinian 
Authority officials who currently partially run the affairs of the West 
Bank.

Interestingly enough, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its unelected 
President, Mahmoud Abbas, are only relevant today because of Hamas, 
despite their public statements blaming Hamas for almost everything that 
has happened since October 7, 2023. If it were not for Hamas, there 
would be no recognition of Palestine. No Arab, US, and European money on 
the table for the corrupted clique of elites based out of Ramallah, nothing.

While the PA buried the Palestinian cause, hijacked its leadership and 
turned it into an international money-grabbing laughing stock amongst 
serious political actors, the armed movements it opposes so virulently 
are the ones propelling the cause to the world.

Many may ask why the Palestinian national movement is incapable of 
seizing this moment, when the world collectively sides with their 
struggle; the answer is the corruption of the Palestinian Authority. It 
is that simple.

And this does not mean petty corruption, like nepotism or certain 
individuals benefiting financially from the system, but rather the 
complete selling out of the cause altogether. All major movements, 
governments and interim authorities have these sorts of issues to one 
extent or another; it is simply because human beings are fallible.

This critique is also starkly different from those historically made 
against the Fatah Party, from other members of the PLO and even some 
groups that operated outside of it. The PA of today does not hold a 
candle to the PLO of old. It is not just an administration with issues, 
like those associated with neo-partimonialism, political miscalculations 
or signing agreements that were designed to damage the Palestinian 
people; it is a corrupt regime that works as the occupiers’ 
subcontractor. It functions as a house-slave.

Back to the Israelis and the plan. The chances of them adhering to it 
are slim to nothing, unless the US were to somehow put its foot down and 
force them to, which is highly unlikely, as Washington is giving the 
green light to each of their violations, never daring to even challenge 
them.

If the Israelis were serious about reconstruction, then why have they 
created and continue to employ civilians from the private sector to 
demolish Palestinian infrastructure in Gaza every day? If they were 
serious about a “technocratic” Palestinian governing force in Gaza, then 
why are they continuing to back three major ISIS-linked proxy groups 
behind the Yellow Line?

According to Axios News, the US is giving a green light to an Israeli 
strategy whereby they will begin using reconstruction funds to build 
structures in the areas of Gaza they control. This plan would then offer 
civilians to live there under the occupation of the Israelis and their 
criminal proxy groups.

Meanwhile, Israel continues to prevent the bare necessities from 
entering the Gaza Strip. The so-called ceasefire agreement was supposed 
to allow 400 aid trucks to enter per day for the first five days, then 
600 plus afterward. Israel even reportedly committed to 600 per day. So 
far, around 90 trucks have entered per day on average, as Gaza continues 
to suffer severe food shortages across the besieged territory.

If the Israelis cannot even help themselves from slaughtering over 100 
civilians, so far, and blocking aid, what chance is there that they will 
allow a legitimate political entity to function, let alone permit 
reconstruction? They would not even allow the heavy equipment into Gaza 
that was needed to quickly and safely extract the bodies of its dead 
captives, which are buried under the rubble created by their own bombs.

If we turn back to 2014, the Israelis were also supposed to allow the 
reconstruction of Gaza, yet they also banned the entry of the 
desperately needed equipment and materials then, too. It took the 
ingenuity of the people to overcome this hurdle at the time.

This ceasefire agreement was never created to end the genocide or pave 
the way to peace. Prussian military theorist, Carl von Clausewitz, is 
often quoted as stating that “war is the continuation of politics by 
other means”, which can be applied here.

The Israelis have clear goals of conquering what they view as “Greater 
Israel”.  As of now, they are pursuing, through political means, their 
schemes to de-fang the resistance and will proceed to war, when they 
deem necessary. Israel must be defeated by the regional resistance, or 
it will keep going until it achieves its “total victory”.


/– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. 
He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine. He contributed 
this article to The Palestine Chronicle. /

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