Spectacle of Symbolic Peace
by Steven Shamrak
President Donald Trump joined more than 20 world leaders in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, for talks on Gaza's future when the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement was underway.
With a big fanfare the leaders of Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the US have signed the memorandum, named "The Trump Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity", backing the Gaza 20 points ceasefire deal, and committing to peace in the region.
The declaration laid out broad commitments to uphold Trump's peace plan, but appeared largely symbolic. It does not blame Hamas and supporting Palestinians for committing acts of terrorist aggression, as the cause of the conflict. Hamas, the PA, and Israel did not sign the proclamation despite being its subject matter.
Hamas is already violating the deal.
On the day the ceasefire agreement was initiated, Hamas broke it! While all living hostages have been returned to Israel, the bodies of just four hostages held in Gaza have been brought back to Israel. Hamas still holds the bodies of 16 others!
Under the terms of the agreement, Hamas was obligated to return all hostages - both the living and the dead - by 12 p.m. last Monday. A 72-hour deadline began when Israeli forces withdrew to what officials call the “yellow line” inside Gaza.
Less than one day after the statement was signed in Egypt, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine rejected any "foreign guardianship" over Gaza in a joint statement. “We renew our rejection to any foreign guardianship, and we stress that the nature of the administration of the Gaza Strip and its institutions is an internal Palestinian matter to be determined by the national component of our people directly,” the statement said. However, they are happy to take money from Arab and international participation in the reconstruction of the enclave, and increase their bank deposits.
That means that the United States’ President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan includes the creation of a new international body, which would oversee an interim authority to govern Gaza, but is already rejected by Hamas and its partners. The world leaders in Sharm El-Sheikh knew that Hamas would not disarm or relinquish its grip on Gaza, when they signed the declaration. The memorandum is unclear how and who will be governing Gaza. All of this makes it a worthless piece of paper, which has undermined Israel’s war against the enemies of the Jewish state again. Although, there is a positive outcome – 20 alive hostages have been released!
Until Israel removes all enemies from the Jewish land, the peace will always be temporary. If it is not Hamas, Fatah, or Islamic Jihad, an existing or newly formed terrorist group will assume the leadership of the ‘struggle’ to achieve destruction of Israel.