On January 15th, 2025, an armistice and prisoner exchange deal was agreed on by Israel and Hamas, and on January 19th, an alleged ceasefire was announced. Hundreds of thousands of people rejoiced as they were grateful for there to finally be an end to 14 months of conflict and bloodshed. However, as Israel continues to attack– launching an “anti-terrorist” operation on West Bank Gaza and killing hundreds of innocent civilians in Jenin on Tuesday, the 22nd, people are beginning to question the legitimacy of this Ceasefire and whether it will hold.
Even if we put Iron Wall aside, there are a multitude of other reasons why people believe that this Ceasefire will not hold. One reason many have pointed out is that this new ceasefire deal is just a rendition of past attempts to stop the war. Throughout the ongoing conflict, there have been several times where it was stated that there would be a ceasefire, only for it never to happen. If the same thing has happened multiple times and never lasted, then of course people are going to hesitate before they trust the government with something like this.
Another reason why people are skeptical about this “peace treaty” is because of the way it’s been written. This ceasefire deal is purposefully vague and has been divided into several phases, the first only expected to last roughly 6 weeks. If this was truly a permanent solution, why would there be so many conditions?
People also believe that this ceasefire will not hold because of the lack of interest coming from both parties in keeping it. According to an article from Al Jazeera, Prime Minister Netanyahu insisted until the very last moment that there is no ceasefire, and the only reason he agreed was because of his allyship with other countries like the United States. Furthermore, Hamas also seems unwilling to stop the fighting, with some of the hostages they were meant to release being found dead.
What the governments of both these countries fail to consider, however– is the people being impacted. Children torn from their families, brothers crying at their sisters’ graves, buildings that were once homes left as rubble, a death toll of 47,460 in Gaza and 1,706 in Israel. What may seem like conflict over land to them has destroyed thousands of families, and will continue to unless they settle on a conclusion. All we can do now is hope that this new ceasefire deal really is one.
