The truce between Israel and Hamas, which was mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, has ended. The Zionist state has resumed, with more force than before, the indiscriminate bombings in Gaza, where the Health Ministry reports that at least 200 people were killed on Friday and 600 others were wounded.
By Daniel Sugasti
More than 400 air raids, from north to south, punished the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, the world’s largest open-air prison. The Palestinian Crescent has denounced that the Zionists have banned the entry of humanitarian aid through the Rafah crossing “until further notice.”
Netanyahu has declared that the negotiations are “deadlocked” and withdrew his negotiators from Qatar. He also reiterated his “commitment” to three goals: “to free the hostages, to eliminate Hamas, and to ensure that Gaza will never again pose a threat to the residents of Israel.” But the sensitive issue of Israeli prisoners held by Hamas and other Palestinian militias remains a factor in the internal crisis. Families have accused the government of indifference and neglect. In fact, heavy Zionist bombardment has cost the lives of many Israeli prisoners in Gaza.
For its part, Hamas has declared: “What they did not achieve before the ceasefire, they will not achieve after it.” At least fifty shells were fired from Gaza into central and southern Israel, showing that Hamas still retains some military capability. This issue also caused controversy within Israel. The internal crisis was fueled by the New York Times report that Israeli authorities and intelligence services knew about plans for a large-scale attack from Gaza more than a year ago. However, these reports have been dismissed. It is no exaggeration to say that Netanyahu and his Nazi-packed cabinet are staking their entire political fortunes on the offensive against the Palestinians.
The cease-fire allowed for the exchange of 105 Israelis held by Hamas for 240 Palestinian women and minors held in Israeli prisons. It also included the entry of 200 trucks of humanitarian aid per day, including fuel, which Hamas says has not been fully respected.
The U.S. apparently blamed Hamas for the end of the cease-fire. However, it is possible to see the crisis in the statements of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who warned in a tone of rebuke, that it is “imperative that Israel act in accordance with international humanitarian law and the laws of war,” adding that there “cannot be a repeat” in the south of the “massive loss of civilian life” and “large-scale displacement” that occurred in the north. The Biden administration, under pressure from domestic criticism from even within the Democratic Party, is trying to include the “humanitarian” element in its statements, without this being a real obstacle to Israel’s genocidal offensive.
On November 24, more than 15,000 people had been killed in Gaza, including more than 6,150 children and nearly 4,000 women. Nearly half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people were forced to leave their homes and flee south.
The cease-fire, which Israel has accepted by force, gave fleeting relief to Palestinians. As we warned, the Israeli offensive has resumed with redoubled intensity. The only alternative for the Palestinian people, in unity with the other Arab peoples, is the political and military defeat of the Zionist state. As long as this Nazi state exists, there will be no peace in Palestine or in the region. The Zionist government intends to take direct control of the Gaza Strip as part of a plan to exterminate the Palestinians, which it has called “human animals”.
Ethnic cleansing, which is closing in on a “final solution,” will continue. That is why it is essential not to cease in the campaigns and the mobilizations against the genocide in Gaza. It is necessary to raise the banner for a single, secular, democratic and non-racist Palestine, which in turn presupposes the destruction and the complete dismantling of the Zionist State of Israel.
