FINANCIAL TIMES: Even in the best-case scenario, the truce agreed to on Tuesday between Israel and Palestinian factions will end the recent Gaza battle but not the war.
If it holds, the cease-fire agreement caps seven weeks of fighting that killed some 2,142 Palestinians and 69 Israelis, with Israel securing no obvious gains. And while it promises some opening of Gaza, as demanded by Hamas, the truce does not address the organization’s more expansive demand for ending the long-term siege of the territory. Moreover, the deal does not even pretend to address the underlying Israeli-Palestinian conflict, of which Gaza is but one symptom. And the persistence of that underlying conflict with no prospect of resolving it through the now collapsed U.S.-led peace process is just one of the reasons the latest truce is unlikely to be the last.
The combatants have agreed to halt attacks on one another, and Israel consented to opening Gaza’s crossings to humanitarian aid and building materials. The crossings and the reconstruction of Gaza will be under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority (PA) rather than Hamas. The waters where Palestinian trawlers will be allowed to fish will be extended. Palestinian demands for the construction of air and sea ports and Israeli demands for Gaza’s disarmament were deferred to another round of talks to begin in Cairo next month… (more)
