On Wednesday (15), Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas agreed on a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip. Despite the advance made, the President of the Palestinian Arab Federation of Brazil (FEPAL, in Portuguese), Ualid Rabah, said that “practical measures” need to result from the truce, including recognition of the Palestinian state.
In an interview with Brasil de Fato, the representative of the largest Palestinian organization in Brazil assessed the agreement which, among other points, should allow the exchange of 33 Israeli hostages held by Hamas for a thousand Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
“For the recognition of the Palestinian state, the United States must lift its veto at the UN; Israel must withdraw its armed forces and settlers from all occupied Palestinian territories, including the West Bank; Gaza must be rebuilt at the expense of those who caused its destruction; Gaza's administration must be exclusively Palestinian under the umbrella of the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization], with elections at all levels; and the more than 18,000 Palestinian detainees held by Israel must be released,” he listed.
In Rabah's analysis, although the agreement is a “step forward”, without the conditions mentioned, it is “just another ceasefire before the next genocide”. “From 2009 until now, how many truces have there been in Gaza without changing the situation?” he asked, saying that such decisions have never changed Israeli rule over Palestine.
Although the agreement has been reached, Rabah says “Israel has achieved its goals” and recalls the number of victims of Israel-led genocide. According to the organization, there are more than 48,000 dead from bombings and attacks, as well as more than 11,000 dead under the rubble, making a total of at least 59,000 Palestinian fatal victims in Gaza.
According to data from the Gaza Ministry of Health, which the UN considers reliable, Israeli attacks have killed at least 46,707 people, most of them civilians, including women and children.
“2.7% of Gaza's population has been wiped out. Compared to Europe during the Second World War, that would equal 20 million people. 90% of Gaza is destroyed; its GDP [Gross Domestic Product] has fallen by 82%; 80% of the Strip’s population is unemployed; there are almost 120,000 wounded, all of them facing serious situations or maimed; all the hospitals, food factories and land have been destroyed,” said Rabah. However, he points out that Israel “has not achieved the mass flight of Palestinians."
Given the losses and the serious humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, “if the war criminals who caused all this are not held accountable, it will be a victory for Israel,” he said, referring to the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant. “The arrest warrant must be carried out,” he urged Brasil de Fato.
In Rabah's opinion, the ceasefire should influence the arrest warrant against Netanyahu: “After the Second World War, Nazi war criminals continued to be hunted. On the contrary, after the war, there was the Nuremberg Tribunal. That's why the International Court of Justice must continue to investigate Israel, the United States’ role and other international actors’ role in the genocide,” he added, referring to Israel's biggest war supporter during that period, the government of US President Joe Biden.
