Gaza ceasefire deal does not stop us being a long way from justice

The Israel security cabinet approved the deal on Friday

A ceasefire deal has been agreed, in news that prompted wild scenes of celebration in both Israel and Palestine. Signed off by Israel’s security cabinet on Friday, it sees a pause in the 15-month conflict for an initial six weeks, with hopes it can then go further.

Destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip on January 13, 2025 amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)Destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip on January 13, 2025 amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)
Destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip on January 13, 2025 amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

This is welcome news, that hit like a wave when it was first announced this week, a flood of relief that the unrelenting tragedy may finally be coming to an end. However, it is important to remember, this is just the beginning of the path to justice. Hamas, a vile terrorist organisation, has agreed to release 33 hostages. That still leaves 61 people in captivity, hoping the peace lasts so their phase of the agreement can be reached. Those who are released now face rebuilding their lives after the horror they’ve endured. They may be out, but what they have experienced will no doubt linger.

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Then there are the people of Palestine, most of whom do not have homes to return to. The United Nation's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that 1.9 million people have been internally displaced, some 90 per cent of the population of Gaza. The shelling may stop, though it didn’t between the ceasefire deal being agreed and signed off, but what happens to them now? The UN estimates that 91 per cent face high levels of acute food insecurity, with the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) saying famine thresholds have now been reached in Northern Gaza.

This comes with the UN estimating 67.6 per cent of cropland being destroyed, and the United Nations Satellite Centre reckoning that 69 per cent of all structures have been destroyed in Gaza, with a similar figure for the road networks. Half of the hospitals have also been destroyed.

Even in the areas designated "humanitarian zones" that the IDF told Palestinians to move to for safety have seen dozens of strikes. That is not conflict, a war on terror. It is promising fleeing civilians shelter, and then murdering them en masse. There’s a word for that.

The people of Gaza don’t have homes to go to, there’s no food, and no longer the capacity to grow their own. A ceasefire makes a nightmare situation slightly better, but it remains a living hell.

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This issue of the damage to roads makes fixing things even harder, with UN staff concerned how they’ll even get to survivors. The Israeli government blocked aid trucks when the conflict was on, and has left little access for the ceasefire.

That’s to say nothing of the more than 62,000 people estimated to have been killed, according to a study published in The Lancet. We don’t know the exact figure but looking at pictures from Gaza, you don’t need to have verified statistics to know that rubble came at a cost.

So where does this leave us? Far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government remains in charge, despite him facing corruption accusations and an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for war crimes. Hamas has also not disappeared.

This iteration of the conflict will pause, perhaps even end. But this remains a crisis, as it was before October 7 2023. The military occupation of the West Bank continues, along with settler violence. We are a long way from justice.

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