Donald Trump wanted to stem the flood of criticism and damaging media reports, while Binyamin Netanyahu merely wanted to buy time in order to continue his project of ethnic cleansing and genocide slightly slower and less publicly. Neither intended that the daily slaughter of Palestinians should cease, that the people of Gaza should receive the food and medical supplies that they urgently need, or that Gaza should be reconstructed for the benefit of its people or that they should receive any compensation. Even less did they intend to address the underlying issues and commence the process of Palestinian return to the towns and villages from which they and their families were expelled in 1948.
Since the agreement was signed last October, scarcely a day has gone by without multiple Israeli attacks. On 14 January, Al Jazeera reported that there had been 1193 Israeli breaches of the ceasefire, leading to the death of at least 442 Palestinians and the maiming of a further 1240. Israel has failed to release all Palestinian prisoners and hostages, has failed to withdraw even to the agreed “yellow line” which would still leave it occupying more than half of Gaza, has demolished more than 2500 buildings and has allowed in less than half of the agreed food and aid. The food that it has permitted in has been mainly snacks and soft drinks, rather than the badly needed meat, dairy and vegetables, adding to the severe malnutrition crisis.
Additionally, Israel has banned 37 international organisations – including Oxfam, Medecins sans Frontieres, and Medical Aid for Palestinians – from operating in Gaza. And, despite the terms of the agreement, Israel has refused to open the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Its pretext is the alleged failure of Gaza authorities to hand over the body of one dead Israeli, who is apparently buried under tons of rubble which cannot be removed as Israel will not allow the import to Gaza of the necessary equipment.
Netanyahu clearly sees the ceasefire not as the start of a peace process but as a breathing space in his long-term campaign to remove all Palestinians, and any memory of them, from Gaza. In this, he is backed by the leaders of most Israeli opposition parties, but opposed by the fascist ministers and parties in his own governing coalition, who want a continuation of the attacks on Gaza and a public commitment to ethnic cleansing and Zionist settlement in the area.
For Trump, the agreement is a further step in his attempt to undermine the United Nations and replace it with his own international body. Having achieved international agreement, including UN Security Council approval, for a “Board of Peace”, Trump has unilaterally expanded its role, allocating the agreed task of administering and reconstructing Gaza to a subsidiary National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. The Board itself has been reformulated as a permanent body, with Trump as life president and the authority to appoint other members. He has appointed about sixty other world leaders as members, and instructed them to pay $1 billion each for the privilege. When French President Emmanuel Macron refused appointment, Trump initially retaliated by threatening to impose 200% tariffs on French wines and champagne.
Trump has lauded the Board of Peace, even before its establishment, as “the Greatest and Most Prestigious board ever assembled at any time, any place”, saying that it was necessary because “the United Nations never helped me”. He apparently intends to create a new international body and militia to replace the UN, paralleling his use of unregulated militias to replace state and municipal governments and police forces in the USA. And he will use his deception of the Security Council to pretend that this power grab has international authorisation and legitimacy.
Meanwhile, Israel continues with its genocidal activity not only in Gaza, but in the rest of the 1967-occupied territories, and inside the Israeli state. While attention has been focussed on Gaza, Israel has killed over 1000 Palestinians in the West Bank since 7 October 2023 – almost as many as in the previous 20 years. During the same period, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forcibly expelled from their homes and more than 3000 homes have been demolished, while Israel has approved the establishment of a further 150 illegal settlements.
Inside the Israeli state, it is estimated that the rate of house demolitions is three times as high as in the West Bank, with several thousand homes being exploded or bulldozed every year. On 24 December 2025, the entire Beduin village of al-Araqib was demolished for the 244th time since 2010.
The barbaric genocide for the past two years in Gaza is a continuation of Israeli practice since the Nakba of 1948, and a preview of what Israel plans for the rest of Palestine. Our response must be to demand an immediate halt to the bombing and shelling, the return of all Palestinians to their homes and lands, and the dismantlement of the discriminatory Zionist structure of the Israeli state. Without these steps, we will see further, and even worse, barbarism.
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