Will the peace in Gaza last?

Even before the Gaza ceasefire deal was inked, there were signs yesterday that it could go off the rails as the Israeli government accused Hamas of reneging on commitments and more than 30 people were killed in strikes by the Israelis.

The ceasefire is to take effect on Sunday and involves the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, after which the terms of a broader peace deal would be finalised.

The cynics might look at the timing – just as the handover from one US president to his successor is about to take place – and wonder whether the negotiations, which involved representatives of both incumbent president Joe Biden and president-elect Donald Trump, were not just intended to burnish the reputations of both men.

In the end, if this deal works, though, who really cares about the motives of those who pulled it off?

The killing needs to stop. After the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel, more than 1 200 Israelis were killed, which provoked a biblical scale retaliation, with upwards of 40 000 Palestinians – many of them civilians, including children – being slaughtered in Gaza, along with the razing to the ground of large parts of the territory.

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Both sides – and their supporters around the world – seem incapable of seeing the other’s point of view, or walking the proverbial mile in their shoes.

That’s not surprising, given the seeming intractability of the problem which is, essentially, the Israelis occupation of land the Palestinians consider theirs.

There is also the reality that, no matter what Israeli apologists say, Palestinians are treated as second-class citizens by Israelis, in much the same way as black people were regarded by whites during the apartheid era.

South Africa is still dealing with apartheid’s hangover … so will there ever be lasting peace in Israel and Palestine?