[COLUMNIST] Ceasefire in Gaza and lessons to be learnt

FOLLOWING Operation Al Aqsa Storm on October 7, 2023, in which Hamas successfully penetrated the Israeli military's defences and abducted 251 Israelis, Israel launched a murderous and genocidal counterattack on Gaza. Not only were more than 47,000 Palestinians killed, but almost 80% of their homes were destroyed. In addition, universities, schools, mosques, hospitals and other buildings and infrastructure were destroyed. Israel announced to the international community that the main objective of their operation was to destroy and eliminate Hamas forever. Therefore, Israel ignored the condemnation of the international community, whether through the UN, ICC and ICJ channels.

Israel also arrogantly rejected a ceasefire offer based on several terms by Hamas in May 2024, such as the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinians currently being unjustly detained in Israeli prisons, as well as the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip. Israel stated at the time that they would rescue all prisoners without having to accept an offer from Hamas because their primary objective, which was to destroy Hamas, had not been completed.

Indeed, many Hamas soldiers and some of their top leaders, such as Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, were killed. Still, in mid-January 2025, Israel was finally forced to admit that they had to accept Hamas's ceasefire offer and, at the same time, had to admit that their primary objective of eliminating Hamas had failed.

Several photos and videos that came out of Gaza when Hamas handed over three Israeli hostages to representatives of the Red Cross Society clearly showed that hundreds and perhaps thousands of Hamas fighters were not only still strong and healthy but were even still enthusiastic to continue fighting against Israel.

The images displayed on TV screens and computers around the world were a victory for Hamas and a shameful failure for Israel. After a year and three months of bombing Gaza with more than 100,000 bombs, which are said to far exceed the power of the atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Hiroshima during World War II, and more than 800 Israeli soldiers' own lives lost, as well as spending tens or hundreds of billions of American dollars in supplying weapons to Israel, in the end, Israel's main significant success was only the murder of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian women and children, thereby convincing the entire world community that the Zionist regime of Israel is a violent, inhumane regime that is willing to commit genocide against Palestinians.

Support from the American public for Israel has plummeted significantly, especially among young people and students. Of course, this is one of the factors why Donald Trump had to put intense pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the war in Gaza. Joe Biden had also felt this pressure. However, he was too afraid of the Zionist lobbyists in America to force Netanyahu to stop the attack on Gaza.

However, we must realize and acknowledge that the main factor why Israel failed in the attack is because of the steadfastness and perseverance of the people of Gaza in enduring the suffering caused by the brutal Zionist oppression against them. They remain steadfast, refusing to surrender to Israel and still giving strong support to Hamas because they realize that Hamas is a group that is willing to sacrifice their lives and property to oppose the efforts of the Zionist Israelis to colonize and seize their territory. The above are the main factors why Hamas continues to exist and is becoming more influential among Palestinians after more than a year of being brutally attacked by Israel. In the end, Israel had no choice but to indirectly acknowledge this fact when they agreed to accept the ceasefire offer from Hamas.

At the same time, the image of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank has fallen apart. Not only has the PA failed to protect the Palestinian people from the tyranny of the Israeli Zionists, but it is also seen as a sub-contractor to Israel that helps Israel resist the efforts of the Palestinian people to resist the occupation and seizure of their territory. While Hamas fighters in Gaza bravely sacrificed their energy and lives to defend the Palestinian people, preventing Israel from controlling Gaza and trying to free some of the thousands of Palestinians being unjustly detained in Israeli prisons, on the other hand, in the West Bank, PA military personnel were busy conducting military operations against the Palestinian population in Jenin, by besieging and killing Palestinians there. They did not stop dozens of illegal Jewish settlers who were terrorizing the West Bank by burning their crops and cars and uprooting their olive trees. The goal of the violence carried out by the illegal Jewish settlers is to drive as many Palestinians in the West Bank as possible from their homeland and thus implement the Second Nakba.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the Palestinians are increasingly hating the PA and increasingly looking up to the Hamas movement, which is increasingly emerging as a movement that genuinely leads the national struggle for the liberation of the Palestinian land from the grip of the Zionist Israel. At the same time, the PA is increasingly seen as an allied agent of the Israeli occupation authorities in the West Bank.

Due to Hamas's steadfastness in defending the Palestinian people, Hamas has succeeded in gaining thousands of new members who will replace those who have been killed, in addition to thousands more who are ready to become Hamas members in the future. In addition, Hamas's position in Palestinian society is becoming stronger day by day. The image of Hamas as the true defender of the Palestinian people is increasingly evident in the eyes of the world community, including among ordinary citizens and students in the United States and Europe. They see Hamas remaining steadfast in fighting on behalf of the oppressed Palestinian people as actual freedom fighters despite governments in Western countries and their allies continuing to label Hamas as a terrorist movement.

For most Palestinians and even hundreds of millions of ordinary people around the world, the resistance movement by the Hamas group in Gaza has defended the people of Gaza not only against Israeli cruelty but also against the injustice of the international legal system and international institutions, including the UN institutions, especially the UN Security Council, against them. The system and institutions have not only failed miserably to prevent Israel from committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, but they are also still enabling Israel to colonize Palestinian lands and carry out ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. Even influential countries in the world, such as America, the UK and France, have provided political, diplomatic and weapons support to Israel to continue killing Palestinians, including women and children, and to confiscate their lands.

Indeed, what has happened in Gaza has created awareness among ordinary people around the world that a small minority group of wealthy and politically influential people are controlling the whole world for their interests. These people have succeeded in controlling the legal system and international institutions to allow injustice to be committed against the weak, including committing genocide against them. It has also made the world aware that if the weak rise and oppose injustice with a strong spirit and a sincere struggle, the weak will eventually defeat the oppressors.

For the Muslim community, it proves to them that the promise of Allah through His words in the Quran, Surah Al Isra' verse 81 is true:

And say, "The truth has come, and falsehood has vanished. Indeed, falsehood is something that will surely disappear."

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* Emeritus Professor Dr Mohd Nazari Ismail is the Director of Hashim Sani Centre for Palestine Studies at the Faculty of Business and Economics, Universiti Malaya.

** The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of Astro AWANI.

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