The path toward a sustainable ceasefire solution in the Gaza Strip resembles a minefield. The turmoil prevailing on the international diplomatic stage, with the Western community presenting a divided image regarding the next day in the Palestinian enclave, has also transferred to the Israeli scene, with a divergence of views emerging between political and military circles.
Read: Iran condemns Israeli plan for Gaza control and accuses it of “ethnic cleansing”
But how can a ceasefire plan be enforced? This is the million-dollar question that remains unanswered. On one hand, Benjamin Netanyahu’s staff insists on what it has favored from the beginning – total victory over Hamas, with a parallel plan for complete occupation of Gaza to end the ongoing conflict. The country’s military forces, however, are simultaneously raising concerns, expressing worries about the fate of the Islamist terrorist organization’s hostages in case of new, fierce confrontations with its members.
No withdrawal
In this chaotic scenario, indirect talks between Israel and Hamas continue to create deadlocks instead of opening paths for resolving differences. The routes toward ceasefire and cessation of the deafening sounds from bombings in Gaza, where famine creates heartbreaking images, now seem labyrinthine.
Any attempt at an initial ceasefire solution has fallen flat, even the American initiative for a 60-day peace. With the dramatic situation in Gaza sending danger signals to the entire world and Western countries calling for immediate ceasefire, ending the fierce bloodshed is deemed imperative.
Hamas, however, has proven over the past two years since 2023, when the massacre against Israelis was perpetrated, that it is not willing to withdraw its forces from Gaza and close the cycle of terrorism it has opened in these long-suffering territories. On the contrary, it has proven it seeks to play a formative role in Gaza’s territories, thereby magnifying the problem, since as a terrorist organization it cannot lead a normal situation, much less guide toward peace and a constructive condition for Palestinians who agonize with every passing minute and dream of a new beginning, away from terrorist activities and successive gunfire.
Skepticism in Israel
Netanyahu, for his part, focuses on his original plan: complete disarmament and extermination of Hamas. He has accelerated his pace recently, planning to expand his military operations, but the maneuvers prove difficult if he aims to successfully traverse the final uphill road before ending the conflict with Gaza.
For the next day in the region, he appears to be planning a holistic scheme, an approach based not only on territorial annexation but on complete occupation of the enclave. The plan, however, encounters disagreements. Within his government, Netanyahu faces skepticism, as the IDF chief disagrees with a plan for total conquest of Gaza, while emphasizing the possibility of hostage deaths by Hamas in case of escalating hostilities.
A climate of anxiety also prevails in Israeli society, as countless citizens experience an unthinkable nightmare for relatives held by Hamas. Their liberation is set as a primary goal, with anxiety intensifying lest the most radical moves bring opposite results from those intended.
Division also prevails in the West, with countries like France, Italy, and Britain favoring – under conditions – recognition of a Palestinian state, while the American Republican staff sets unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza as a basic priority.
The US, meanwhile, does not appear to reject Netanyahu’s occupation plans for the region, with Donald Trump conveying that such a decision lies exclusively with the Israeli Prime Minister’s judgment. The European bloc, in turn, has expressed opposition to an occupation plan, sending the message that such an action would cause a domino of geopolitical consequences and would be “unacceptable.”
Pressure on the US too
Meanwhile, hundreds of retired Israeli officials, including some former intelligence chiefs, issued a joint letter to the US President on Monday, calling on him to pressure Netanyahu not to proceed with a plan for complete occupation of Gaza.
Netanyahu’s new plans were revealed just 24 hours ago, but it remains unclear how a complete military control scheme for Gaza will be achieved in the first phase and what a potential new administration with Arab countries’ involvement in the region could be.
Possibly, Israeli military forces could guarantee a transitional situation, but military personnel and former security officials express reservations about the outcome of such an operation, considering the anxiety about Hamas hostages’ fate, Israeli soldiers’ lives, and Israeli society’s pulse.
Americans also place the hostage liberation issue high on their agenda, with US Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff sounding the alarm for Hamas captives.
The coming hours will prove, if nothing else, of decisive importance, whatever the Israeli government’s decision for Gaza’s next day.
Published in Parapolitika
