Israel, Hamas Agree On Truce To End 11-Day Conflict In Gaza – Bloomberg
Israel and the Hamas group that rules Gaza agreed to end an 11-day conflict that’s devastated large swaths of the Palestinian enclave and sowed chaos in Israel.
Israel’s security cabinet unanimously voted to approve an Egyptian proposal for an unconditional, bilateral truce, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a text message. The cease-fire is to take effect at 2 a.m. on Friday, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said.
A total of 232 Palestinians and 12 people in Israel have been killed in he violence. Efforts to end the hostilities intensified after the U.S. raised pressure on Israel on Wednesday to dial back its onslaught.
Throughout the fighting, militants pounded Israel with thousands of rockets that spread chaos in large parts of the country and sent people scurrying repeatedly for shelter. The violence was the most bruising since the enemies fought a 50-day war in 2014.
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The truce alone will do nothing to address the root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, making future cycles of violence likely
Peacemaking between Israel and the internationally-recognized Palestinian Authority broke down seven years ago, and Hamas and some other groups say armed resistance is needed to win back land and rights. Israel, along with Egypt, has blockaded Gaza since Hamas took control there in 2007, confining more than 2 million people to the tiny sliver of land.
While the Biden administration has underlined its support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it has signaled that it doesn’t plan to invest heavily in trying to resolve the conflict. And the wholehearted embrace of Israel by former President Donald Trump has left Palestinians wary of U.S. mediation.
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The hostilities erupted after weeks of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in east Jerusalem, the holy city at the heart of conflicting sovereignty claims. As fighting escalated, it spilled over into deadly clashes inside Israel between Arab and Jewish citizens that were the fiercest in decades.
Although the violence has been quelled by a heavy security presence, underlying Arab grievances over discrimination and Jewish mistrust over allegiance still fester and will pose a challenge to Israel going forward.
– Bloomberg
