Obstacles To Cease-fire In Gaza: Iran Daily

Tehran, Aug 4, IRNA - ˈIran Dailyˈ on Monday contemplated on why both Israel and the Hamas are unwilling to end the bloodshed and agree to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, considering three elements that are blocking Israelˈs bloody onslaught of the coastal enclave. Firstly, Hamas is seeking to break Israeli blockade of the coastal enclave which has been in place since 2007. Given the current situation and the death and destruction on the Palestinian side, the strip will remain as a ‘big prison’ for its 1.8 million residents if the resistance movement accepts a ceasefire which does not lift the prolonged siege, pointed out the English-language paper in its Opinion column. The Israeli regime is also pursuing its own objectives, the most important of which is the annihilation of Hamas. If Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agrees to a ceasefire without accomplishing the goal, he will come under tremendous pressure from his critics, it noted. Secondly, Hamas continues to resist Israel’s disproportionate blitz and defies internationally-brokered truce plans for the reason that it has the full support of the Gazans. Israel’s heavy bombardment of Gaza seems to have caused no damage to Palestinians’ morale, rather they appear to be more determined to seek a permanent solution to end the siege, highlighted the daily. There seems to be a similar situation in Israel. A section of the Israelis back the military operation in Gaza. If a truce is declared today, Hamas will virtually remain armed and can retaliate anytime Israel targets Gaza, it said. Thirdly, there is no influential go-between to arrange a truce. During the 8-day Israeli war on Gaza in 2012, the Egyptian government led by Mohamed Morsi managed to mediate a truce because it had high credibility among Hamas leaders. But Egypt’s incumbent President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi obviously lacks credibility in Gaza. Hamas knows very well how much Sisi hates the resistance movement in the Gaza Strip and demands its annihilation. This time, Egypt is replaced with Turkey and Qatar but the problem is that Israel does not trust them. Last, but not the least, is the US which has so far failed to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas and its efforts have borne no fruit, criticized the daily. Relations between Washington and Tel Aviv have turned sour due to a number of reasons. Israelis do not view US officials, particularly Secretary of State John Kerry, as neutral mediators and accuses the top American diplomat of going soft on Hamas. The presence of Turkey and Qatar at a meeting held in a bit to reach a peace deal also fueled Israel’s mistrust. As a result, Israelis did not accept the truce initiative. All peace efforts have so far been in vain. However, the current situation cannot last forever, stressed the daily. People world over continue to hold demonstrations in support of the Palestinians and in condemnation of Israeli atrocities against them. It’s unlikely that some politicians in the US and Israel stand idle and take no action to mitigate the anti-Israeli sentiment, concluded the paper.