Peace is hollow while Gazans are imprisoned

Finally, after 50 days of the most brutal bombardment and collective punishment of a captive population, a ceasefire has been agreed in Gaza and Israel’s Ramadan war has come to an end. Both Hamas and Israel have tried to spin the war to their advantage, with Hamas declaring “victory” and Israel parading its paltry concessions across international television networks.

Look closely, however, and the whole idea of a “peace deal” becomes a grotesque charade. Start with Hamas: the idea that the destruction of an already battered enclave can be a victory is hollow. Hamas would argue that anything short of its outright destruction is a success. But with more than 2,000 civilians, including women and children, dead and 11,000 injured, there is no victory.

On the Israeli side, the peace deal merely outlines the cruelty and callousness of that state. Israel has strangled Gaza for seven years, destroying industries, schools and hospitals, making daily life and business impossible. Gaza is almost entirely isolated: few Palestinians are allowed to move, even to the West Bank, which ought to be part of the same state. Few goods are allowed in or out.

So the idea that any “easing” of imports will make a substantial difference is simply posturing. As the infamous counting of calories by Israel to make sure just enough gets into Gaza to avoid mass malnutrition shows, Tel Aviv has no intention of allowing Gaza to thrive. Allowing Palestinian fishermen – who are already shot at by Israeli gunboats – to travel a little further out to sea is nothing when there is no regular access to clean water, and no power stations since Israel bombed them all.

This ceasefire, then, is just the beginning, not the end. Any progress is positive, anything that ends children being buried under buildings is something.

But there is no “return to normal”. Israel wants to keep Gaza weak, poor and hungry. Any celebration of this peace deal is merely to fall into the trap set by the rhetoric. There is no victory here, no peace deal.

What the ceasefire exposes is that Israel will never make any genuine concessions without international pressure. And that without a state, Gaza, and the rest of Palestine, can never be the master of its own destiny.