Intl. pressure, economic boycotts, divided cabinet push Israel toward truce: Analyst

By Alireza Kamandi

International pressure, economic boycotts and a split cabinet have pushed Israel to consider a truce deal with the Palestinian resistance, says Shabnam Palesa Mohamed, a South African human rights activist, journalist, and lawyer.

In an interview with the Press TV website, Mohamed said Israel intends to further colonize Gaza and exploit the besieged territory’s offshore gas. Therefore, any ceasefire deal must be permanent.

Osama Hamdan, the senior Hamas representative in Lebanon, said on Wednesday that the Israeli occupation is hindering the ceasefire in Gaza after the Palestinian resistance movement submitted its response to the US-drafted and UN-endorsed ceasefire proposal.

He rejected US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s remarks about planning for the governance of post-war Gaza, asserting that Palestinians will decide their future.

“The Israeli proposal seeks a temporary ceasefire to catch its breath before resuming the war,” Hamdan noted in his remarks, referring to the Biden plan, which the US claims has Israel's support.

Regarding what prompted Israeli officials to consider ceasefire negotiations, Mohamed told the Press TV website that international pressure, economic boycotts, and a divided cabinet in Tel Aviv have forced the regime to submit to the resistance.

However, she added, the pretense of being interested in a ceasefire is a cover to procure more deadly weapons from the US military-industrial complex.

Commenting on the full-scale war that Israel has waged against the Gaza Strip by air, sea, and ground, the rights activist stated that what the world is witnessing in Gaza is not a war but genocide rooted in “geo-political and socio-economic factors.”

What’s stance of Hamas and Israel on US-proposed truce plan endorsed by UN

Palestinian resistance groups have submitted their response to the US-sponsored Gaza truce plan endorsed by the UN Security Council. Now the ball is in the Israeli regime’s court.

These factors include the intention to colonize more Gaza land, steal Gaza’s offshore gas, and expand the settler-colonial project across the territory and rest of the occupied territories.

However, the regime leaders and their financers have underestimated the world’s tolerance for military occupation, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing, Mohamed emphasized.

She highlighted that the shifting geo-political landscape means the US government cannot bully, blackmail, or brutalize people as they did in Iraq and Libya.

With the US approaching a pivotal election in November, American voters do not want more horror inflicted on Palestinians using American taxpayer funds.

Since October 7, 2023, more than 37,000 people in Gaza have been killed by Israeli forces, most of them children and women. More than two million have been displaced and rendered homeless.

On the prosecution of Israeli war criminals, the South African lawyer and activist said the anti-war movement is probably the strongest it has ever been.

“Horrifying breaches of international law must be addressed. But it is not certain that the International Criminal Court can achieve this,” she stated.

“War devastates lives, dignity, physical and mental health, homes, education, free speech, and other fundamental human rights and civil liberties. Peace through diplomacy, dialogue, and mediation is possible. But it is up to us to reject warmongering and wage peace.”

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