An agreement on a deal that will halt — at least temporarily — Israel’s 15-month long genocidal assault on Gaza was announced on Wednesday to scenes of celebration by Palestinians in Gaza. The agreement is divided into three phases, each spanning 42 days, and outlines specifics on the first phase, including prisoner swaps, Israeli troop withdrawals, allowances for displaced Palestinians to return to their homes, while leaving the details of the ensuing two phases to be determined through future negotiations.
The deal, announced by Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani in Doha this afternoon, will take effect on January 19. A monitoring mechanism based in Cairo and operated jointly by Egypt, Qatar and the United States will watch for and mediate any violations, a joint statement said.
At the time of writing, Israel has not yet officially announced it has agreed to the deal. The terms of the agreement being negotiated are nearly identical to what was on the table last May when outgoing President Joe Biden first announced it. Much of the last minute negotiations this month were around specific details, including sensitive topics such as the extent of withdrawal of Israeli forces, a buffer zone, control of the Rafah border crossing, and whether displaced Palestinians would be able to return to their homes in northern Gaza.
Sami Al-Arian, director the Center for Islam and Global Affairs, Zaim University, and Muhammad Shehada, journalist and analyst from Gaza, joined Jeremy Scahill to discuss the breakthrough in the deal and the potential loopholes for Israel. While Trump’s interventions have been “monumental” in making the ceasefire deal possible, Shehada said, there is a likely “gift bag” in the deal for Israelis.
As long as Israel exists as it is now, with unconditional support from the richest countries in the world, Palestinians are not safe. The whole country needs to be dismantled. They have not right to that land. But a relief is not a small thing for the people enduring bombings, starvation and western imposed misery for so long. I hope someone has some projection to welcome Biden back home once he leaves the White Nursing Home with the words we all know belong to him - Genocidal President. Let this be his legacy. I would also love to see some payback to Blinken. What an ineffective "diplomat"
The ceasefire will hold only as long as SUFFICIENT pressure is applied to Netanyahu. Biden could have done that at any time but chose not to do so. The current effort has the smell of Trump all over it. Well, good for him. Any lives that can be saved is a good thing. But it's Trump... and he could go another way at any time, so the Palestinian people are at the whim of a the blond dervish.
Great discussion with three brilliant minds. Israel is a stage 5 cancer in the region and has been exposed as a psycho words led by a death cult. People of the world should be united to eradicate this parasite.