Editorial: Time to accept ceasefire

The plan provides a window of opportunity to find a lasting solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict

United States President Joe Biden’s announcement of a comprehensive new plan for a permanent cease-fire in war-torn Gaza provides a window of opportunity to end the war and find a lasting solution to the vexed conflict. The three-phase plan, purported to have been offered by Israeli negotiators to the American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators, involves the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, turning a temporary cease-fire into a permanent cessation of hostilities, and the launch of an internationally backed effort to rebuild Gaza. More than 100 hostages were released under a more limited deal last November. An estimated 125 people are still being held by Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, though dozens are believed to be dead. Though the proposal had reportedly come from the Israeli negotiators, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right colleagues in the cabinet are against any kind of settlement before Hamas is eliminated and the hostages are released from its captivity. Two far-right Israeli ministers — Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir — threatened to quit and trigger the collapse of the governing coalition if the Prime Minister agreed to the deal. Netanyahu’s detractors allege that he has been prolonging the war to stave off an election and a public reckoning for the Israeli intelligence and policy failures leading up to Hamas’s devastating October 7 assault on Israel. However, there are indications that Hamas is favourably inclined to accept the ceasefire plan.

If it gets through, the ceasefire alone would be a huge achievement for the United States and its mediating partners, Egypt and Qatar — and a desperately needed dollop of food, medicine, shelter and hope for Gazans. Biden’s announcement and subsequent developments come in the wake of growing domestic criticism over the level of US support for Israel as well as calls to do more to encourage the warring sides to negotiate. It is time for all the stakeholders to accept the deal and end the raging conflict which has claimed thousands of lives and wreaked havoc on the people of Gaza. More than 36,000 have been killed across Gaza since the start of the latest round of conflict in October when Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 252 back to Gaza as hostages. Global pressure to scale down the military operation increased after the International Court of Justice, an arm of the United Nations, ruled last week that Israel must halt its military offensive in Rafah. On its part, India has been steadfastly advocating a two-state solution in the Israel-Palestine conflict. While condemning the Hamas attack on Israel, it has also called for a homeland for Palestinians. Irrespective of the nature of political dispensation at the Centre, India has always supported a negotiated two-state solution.

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