Complete ceasefire in Gaza is the need of the hour

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu won’t know what to do with himself and his war cabinet now that Donald Trump has ordered a ceasefire and end to the war in Gaza. Netanyahu had counted on the war to keep him in office and guarantee his return in the coming election which has to be held by October 2026. Being out of power means he will have to answer for the failure of the Israeli military to observe Hamas’ military manoeuvres in Gaza, and predict and prevent the October 7th, 2023, attack on southern Israel which killed 1,200 Israelis and rendered 251 captives. On his watch, the Israeli army not only took its time to reach the site of the raid but snipers and helicopters fired on and killed Israelis as well as Hamas fighters. Chaos ensued. This event took the lives of the largest number of Jews since the Holocaust.

In addition to the Israelis military personnel killed on October 7th, Israel’s longest war, there have been more than 900 Israeli soldiers killed, and 19,000 soldiers wounded and nearly 10,000 are receiving psychological care at the Defence Ministry’s rehabilitation unit. Fifty-eight soldiers have committed suicide due to prolonged involvement in combat while nearly 3,770 soldiers have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Fearing for the lives, limbs and minds of their sons, Israeli mothers have been calling for and marching for months for an end to the war, Netanyahu’s war.

While dismissing domestic and international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has slain more than 67,000 Palestinians, 80-84 per cent of whom were women and children, displaced 90 per cent of the 2.3 million Gazans, and made the narrow coastal strip uninhabitable with the aim of ethnically cleansing Palestinians from Gaza. It is estimated that reconstruction of housing, infrastructure, commercial and public buildings and clearing farmland of rubble and ordnance will cost $70 billion. Potential donors are reluctant to provide funds unless receiving assurances that Gaza will not be attacked by Israel again.

Last November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. On October 17th, the ICC rejected Israel’s bid to appeal the ruling. It has been hotly contested by the US which imposed sanctions on the court in retaliation. Israel also faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice. Israel could face demands for accountability and reckoning for the first time since its founding during the Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe) of 1948.

While Netanyahu is already under trial in a Jerusalem district court for fraud, bribery and breach of trust, he has managed to escape testifying when it conflicts with official duties. The trial began in 2020. Since December 2024, Netanyahu has been meant to testify twice a week. However, many hearings have been cancelled or cut short for various reasons related to his work, fatigue and illness. Netanyahu is a perfect example of an artful dodger. Donald Trump has urged Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Netanyahu, arguing that the allegations of wrongdoing are trivial. To protest the war, call for its end and demand the return of the captives, tens of thousands of Israelis have gathered weekly in Tel Aviv and across the country. This became the largest and most persistent anti-war movement in Israel since its invasion of Lebanon in June 1982. Earlier that year then Defence Minister Ariel Sharon drewn up and received cabinet support for a contingency plan called “Little Pines.” This involved an Israeli 40-kilometre wide invasion of south Lebanon to drive Palestinian fighters who had conducted raids into Israel from the area. But as soon as Israeli troops and tanks crossed into Lebanon, he ordered them to advance to Beirut under a more extensive plan dubbed “Big Pines.” Unfortunately for Sharon, at that time Beirut hosted a large collection of global media men and women who reported on Israel ‘s destruction of Palestinian refugee camps, Lebanese villages and towns and siege of the capital. The campaign resulted in the massacre by Sharon’s Christian Phalangist allies of hundreds of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila camps outside Beirutl, his removal from his post, and the establishment by Israeli soldiers of Peace Now as well as other Israeli peace groups which have endured and grown increasingly relevant during Netanyahu’s war on Gaza.

Netanyahu’s “peace” is fragile. His forces have repeatedly violated ceasefire and struck Gaza, killing scores of Palestinians. Right-wing partners in his government are displeased with the suspension of all-out war and could bolt his coalition. Israelis who wanted to end the war months ago blame Netanyahu for carrying on with the offensive to ensure his personal political survival. They also argue that the massive deaths and devastation wreaked on Gaza has alienated the US and isolated Israel globally. Before this war, Israel’s key political asset was its special standing with the US and Europe. This has been compromised by Netanyahu’s cruel punishment of Gaza and Gazans. He will be responsible.