Redacted by: Federico Dertaube

The announcement of a ceasefire in Gaza was met with celebrations in the streets, among the rubble and the makeshift tents that now serve as homes for Gazans. For Palestinians, it’s straightforward—there’s little room for tactical calculations. The reality is they endured a systematically imposed genocide for 15 months. They’re not focused on the fine details of concessions or the back-and-forth of international negotiations. They’re celebrating because they survived the massacre. That’s why they see this as a victory, why they’re celebrating, and they have every right to. It’s really that simple.

On the other side, Israeli society and its bourgeoisie are divided. Far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s government, such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, are threatening to resign and boycott the government if the Gaza ceasefire deal is finalized. Their goals are equally straightforward: they are not concerned about the hostages, despite Zionism’s international campaign to center attention on them. Their sole aim is to complete the destruction of Hamas and carry out ethnic cleansing. While Israeli lobbying organizations have filled cities worldwide with posters about the hostages, they have done something entirely different in the occupied Palestinian territories: they have carried out the largest «political» genocide since World War II in the Gaza ghetto.

Smotrich stated a few months ago that «it is possible and necessary to occupy Gaza» and that «we can reduce its population to less than half within two years.» Ben-Gvir participated in an event near Gaza organized by the settler group Nachala, led by Daniela Weiss, who declared that their goal was «to colonize Gaza, not part of Gaza but all of Gaza,» and that «the Arabs have lost their right to be here.» These are not fringe voices—they are government ministers who hold the power to shape the future of a ceasefire in Gaza.

However, Zionist society is divided. Israel is also exhausted by the ongoing effort of systematic aggression and massacre. And by the resistance of the Palestinian people, who have managed to keep 100 hostages under their control while exercising their rightful self-defense.

In Tel Aviv, outside the offices of high-ranking officials, the families of the hostages mobilized to demand that all phases of the Gaza ceasefire agreement be implemented. They fear that when phase 2 arrives, Israel will back out, return to the massacre, and the remaining hostages will never be freed. Since the end of 2023, they’ve been denouncing that the government is using them as an excuse and hasn’t really made any efforts to secure the hostages’ release. It’s true: when the first brief ceasefire to the massacre took place last November, Netanyahu stated that there would be no peace until the “enemy” was exterminated. They call it “Hamas,” but their underlying goal is ethnic cleansing. They want a “final solution” to the Palestinian question.

When Israel invaded Lebanon in October 2023, we said: «Israel’s systematic policy of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians is not just another characteristic of the Zionist state, it is a necessary part of its existence, inseparable from the Zionist project. The establishment of a purely Jewish ethno-state in a place where Jews were a small minority from the beginning meant erasing the majority and indigenous population of historic Palestine from the map. No one who is not Jewish can be a full citizen in an ethno-state like Israel. An ethnically ‘pure’ state project is similar to that of the Nazis for many reasons, and it cannot exist without Nazi methods. Ethnic cleansing in a country that exists through colonization is a necessary condition for its existence.» (The Zionist aggression against Lebanon is a further escalation of the Palestinian genocide)

The scale of the genocidal aggression since the end of 2023 is unmatched. This has triggered global movements in support of those suffering in Gaza, echoing the solidarity with the people of Vietnam 50 years ago. Mass protests have put pressure on the Biden administration and are now pushing Trump, who wants to step into office with “this problem solved.”

However, these goals conflict with those of many prominent figures in Zionism, even within the government itself, who see this push as their chance to fully complete the colonization of Palestine (a policy unaligned with traditional imperialism, at least until now—we´ll see what Trump does).

Their clear goal, as we’ve said, is to turn this «war» into the final push of their ethnic cleansing. The problem is that they see the ceasefire deal in Gaza as a roadblock to the path they’ve paved with tons of bombs. That’s why the Zionist state suffers a political crisis from within, and why there are delays in signing the agreement (which is still partial and unstable, and will either move forward or not, «hanging by a thread» every day). That’s why they’re complaining while the Palestinians are celebrating.

The possible ceasefire agreement in Gaza

The proposed ceasefire in Gaza consists of several phases, but it’s still just a draft. Its implementation hasn’t been confirmed yet, It is expected to go into effect next Sunday. Negotiations are still ongoing, as are the massacres. In the 24 hours following the announcement, Israel killed 81 Palestinians. There’s more consensus on phase 1, but the rest are still being negotiated.

Phase 1 (42 days):

• Hamas releases 33 hostages, including female soldiers and civilians, as well as children and men over the age of 50.
• Israel releases 30 Palestinian prisoners for each civilian and 50 for each female soldier. Thousands of Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons under inhumane conditions and torture. Some face life sentences. The vast majority are civilians, victims of the Apartheid state.
• A ceasefire in Gaza. Zionist forces pull back from most heavily populated areas to zones closer to the borders of the Gaza Strip.
• Displaced Palestinians may return to what’s left of their homes and neighborhoods, which is very little. Israel would allow humanitarian aid to enter, which it has been blocking for nearly a year and a half.

Phase 2 (42 days):

• A «sustainable calm» declaration.
• Hamas releases the remaining male hostages (civilians and soldiers) in exchange for a yet to be determined number of Palestinian prisoners.

This phase is the most contentious in the negotiations. Hamas is demanding a full withdrawal of Zionist forces from Gaza. However, the Israeli government refuses to budge on a crucial point: it insists that Hamas should not be part of any future Gaza government. Hamas seems willing to give up the current government, but rejects the idea of not being part of the next one. This is a logical stance: the people of Gaza and Palestine as a whole should be the ones to decide their government, not Zionism or imperialism.

In theory, negotiations would continue after phase 1, even if there’s no agreement to proceed to phase 2. But this could be a trap for Israel to restart the military aggression as if nothing happened. However, they face a serious problem: Hamas, with full justification, has reserved another group of hostages in case that happens. This puts pressure on Israel because the families want this situation to end and for all their loved ones to come home. The Zionist state is caught in an existential dilemma, and that’s its worst defeat in this genocide. In the long run, its existence is at risk.

On the other hand, the Zionist state refuses to give up the Netzarim Corridor. This «corridor,» controlled by Israeli forces, has kept the north and south of the Gaza Strip divided since the beginning of the occupation.

This is no small issue: Israel refuses to give up control over the traffic of people within Gaza. Not giving up the corridor is a clear mockery of any peace effort. It’s an open declaration that they don’t plan to lose control over the population or the strip itself, which would allow them to resume displacement and massacres whenever they choose. It’s like saying, «We’ll negotiate now, but we’ll colonize later.» They also claim they want to keep the Netzarim Corridor to prevent Hamas from reorganizing and rearming. Hamas has the right to do so. The truth is, the occupation and massacres haven’t managed to defeat neither the Palestinian organization or the people of Gaza. Defeating them was Netanyahu’s explicit goal, and now he’s facing the hard truth.

Facing a State that openly declares its intent to colonize, that is demanding that the colonized accept disarmament. Who would agree to face an occupying force with nothing to defend themselves?

Phase 3 (duration to be determined):

• Exchange of bodies of the deceased Israeli hostages for the bodies of Palestinian prisoners.
• Implementation of a reconstruction plan for Gaza.
• Reopening of Gaza’s borders.

The most debated phase is number 2. Netanyahu’s ministers are openly saying it: they’ll accept the deal if they can get the hostages back and then immediately restart the destruction of Gaza. The Jerusalem Post reports that «Smotrich demands assurances that the IDF will continue operating in Gaza once the deal is done»… «This includes resuming the fighting with greater intensity and having the IDF control the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza.»

This is the unfolding political crisis. The far-right faction of the government wants nothing more than a brief pause to resume the aggression, while a significant portion of the Israeli population is fed up with the «war» and longs for a return to normal life. Meanwhile, the global community and the hundreds of thousands supporting the Palestinian cause remain vigilant.

Holocaust and occupation

The numbers speak volumes about the genocidal intentions of Netanyahu’s government. Officially, around 46,000 deaths have been confirmed, but The Guardian reports that at least 10,000 more remain buried under rubble, unidentified. Additionally, 110,000 people have been injured, with varying degrees of severity, and a third of them are expected to live with lifelong disabilities.

But the devastation goes way beyond the massacres. Gaza is a wasteland. The destruction of homes and infrastructure has been massive. It’ll take 10 years just to clear the rubble

Nine out of ten homes have been destroyed. 1.9 million Gazans, 90% of the population, have been displaced. Israel has committed a new war crime during this massacre: the annihilation of homes.

All of Gaza’s schools have been destroyed. What remains of them is minimal, and what remains of them is now being used to treat the wounded and feed the starving. For over a year, no Palestinian child has had the chance to attend school. We’re facing an entire generation that will bear the long-term trauma of a lost education, in addition to the psychological scars from the ongoing barbarity.

1,050 healthcare workers have been killed by Israel. Only 17 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are still operational, and even then, only partially. There have been 654 recorded attacks on healthcare facilities. The IDF troops control the entry of aid and medicines, making medical care for millions impossible by enforcing a severe shortage.

Hunger has been imposed in Gaza. The official death toll does not include those killed by starvation and disease. 96% of children are not being properly fed. 345,000 people are facing a «catastrophic» food situation, while 876,000 are in an emergency situation.

The numbers speak for themselves. Israel’s war is not a war against Hamas; it’s a war against the very right of Palestinians to exist. The six million killed in the Nazi Holocaust should feel ashamed in their «graves» in the face of the Holocaust caused by Zionism, which has proven to be one of the most reactionary and backward movements of the last century. Their policy is one of 19th-century-style colonization brought to the 21st century.

The ceasefire agreement in Gaza: a major partial victory for the Palestinians

The diplomatic teams of both the outgoing and incoming U.S. administrations are under pressure for an agreement. Both Trump and Biden have been Israel’s main international supporters for the massacre, both politically and militarily. The fact that they both want to put a brake on it, at least temporarily, shows that they fear a significant political cost: pro-Palestinian mobilizations have only grown over the past 15 months and threaten to intensify if this agreement falls through!

The same can be said for Netanyahu. He’s blocked the possibility of a ceasefire many times, insisting on pushing through to the end, but he’s failing despite the genocide that’s already happened. The ministers who are protesting and threatening to quit are fascists who don’t care about the fallout. If ministers like Ben-Gvir and Smotrich resign, it could spark a political crisis in the government, even forcing early elections. The biggest protests in Tel Aviv are in favor of a deal. Israeli society is deeply divided, even though support for the genocide remains the majority.

While Israel may be on the brink of a political crisis, Palestinian forces appear more united than they have been in the past two years. Negotiations between Hamas and Fatah could open the door to Palestinian political reunification after nearly two decades. It’s an unprecedented development. The massacred, among the rubble of their towns and cities, are showing greater unity and solidarity with one another. Meanwhile, the oppressors, the colonizers, are divided.

The propaganda from Zionism and its imperialist allies has fooled many. Some even think the Palestinian issue is a «religious» conflict. But the truth is that global demonstrations have shown that the Palestinian cause has broad, mass support around the world. We live in a world where the rejection of colonization and racial segregation is overwhelmingly popular. The far-right has tried to turn back the values inherited from the French Revolution, as well as from socialist and anti-colonial movements. But they have not managed to turn back the clock of history.

The ceasefire agreement in Gaza is insufficient and carries many risks. It says little about the absolutely necessary and urgent reconstruction. There is no guarantee that Zionism will not resume the genocide.

But the Palestinians are celebrating. They have earned that right. Meanwhile, the defenders of genocide protest, both loudly and quietly. Their resentment toward the Palestinians stems from their inability to forgive them for their greatest crime. No Palestinian violence compares to what they have suffered—displacement, massacres, being surrounded by walls and fences, aimed at daily by rifles and machine guns. No, it is not Palestinian violence that the colonizers cannot forgive. The real crime of the Palestinians, the one that sparks the colonizers’ rage, is their heroic determination to cling to their right to live and exist.

Long live Free Palestine!

For a united, secular, free, and socialist Palestine, from the river to the sea!