Gaza, the non-existent ceasefire and the Genocide enablers

IS THERE a ceasefire in Palestine? Did you think that merely declaring a "ceasefire" would set the world right and that we could all go back to our "normal" lives? Those normal lives in which we didn’t see unarmed civilians bombed, and didn’t watch grieving families holding the tattered remnants of what used to be living, breathing and loving human beings?

If you actually indulged that thought, then I say that you are naïve.

The US, Israel and a number of Arab nations imposed a "peace plan" on the Palestinians. I won’t cover every point of this "peace plan", just the most critical of the points. The Palestinian resistance accepted most of the terms of the peace plan, such as the release of the remaining Israeli prisoners taken on October 7, 2023, the phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the cessation of hostilities between the two sides and the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The resistance groups rejected other terms of the "peace plan", including the Israeli-American demand that they disarm and disband. They have also rejected the terms which would place Gaza under the governorship of a "Peace Council" headed by Tony Blair, the former UK Prime Minister, and Donald Trump. To any educated observer, this aspect of the "peace plan" is simply Western colonial tendencies made manifest.

Palestinian land placed under European, Israeli and American control? That’s colonialism, pure and simple, and it is unacceptable to Palestinians who are fighting for their right to self-determination. Instead, Hamas has counter-proposed that it will not govern Gaza and will relinquish governance to a technocratic Palestinian government.

The "peace plan" came into effect on October 10, 2025. Since then, Israel has launched multiple airstrikes on Gaza and has killed at least 226 Palestinians. Israel has also broken the agreement by failing to allow the agreed amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Let us be clear on this, there has been a de-escalation in the Israeli attacks on Gaza but there is definitely not a ceasefire. The Israelis launch attacks whenever they please, based on whatever flimsy excuse that they think up in the moment.

Palestinians are still prevented from returning to their homes, especially north of Gaza City. It is impossible to speak of Gaza without mentioning the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank, where there has been an escalation in the violence committed against Palestinians by Israeli settler gangs, supported by the military. Palestinian villages are being burnt, their inhabitants attacked, entire communities are being forcibly removed from their land. This is an ethnic cleansing campaign.

So what does this tell us? It tells us that there isn’t a ceasefire. It tells us that the genocide and ethnic cleansing continues. Which begs the questions, "Why is Israel able to continue with its attacks? Why are there no consequences?".

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, recently released a report which helps us understand Israel’s impunity.

The following words are from the summary of Albanese’s report, which has been formally presented to the United Nations.

“The ongoing genocide in Gaza is a collective crime, sustained by the complicity of influential Third States that have enabled longstanding systemic violations of international law by Israel. Framed by colonial narratives that dehumanize the Palestinians, this live-streamed atrocity has been facilitated through Third States' direct support, material aid, diplomatic protection and, in some cases, active participation.”

Albanese identified four areas in which "Third States" are complicit in the genocide. These areas are diplomatic cover, military support, economic support and "humanitarian" support. Three large, supposedly "civilised" Western states provide the perfect examples of what should not be done during an ongoing genocide. These states are the US, UK and Germany.

Despite massive internal pro-Palestine protests, these states have all provided diplomatic cover, by refusing to support calls for arms and trade embargoes against Israel. The US, in particular, has vetoed every United Nations resolution which would have demanded that Israel stop its genocidal attacks. These states continue providing weaponry to Israel. The US has provided Israel with all the weaponry Israel needs to continue killing Palestinian men, women and children.

The UK continues to export fighter jet components to Israel, despite knowing that those jets will be dropping bombs on civilians. The German government has just been accused of providing false information to the International Court of Justice, regarding German weapons exports to Israel. The Israelis gleefully continue their killing spree, secure in the knowledge that all they need do is ask and their Western patrons shall provide.Economic support for Israel, including continued trade and "sweet-heart" aid packages, has allowed the genocidal, settler-colonial apartheid state to continue functioning almost as normal.

Even South Africa is not exempt from criticism, with Albanese specifically mentioning the continued supply of South African coal to power Israel’s industrial base. Then there is the fourth aspect, "humanitarian" assistance. Albanese is not referring to the actual provision of humanitarian aid. Instead, she is referring to the way in which these "Third States" have allowed the systematic dismantling of international aid agencies and their operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Dismantling these aid operations deepens the humanitarian crisis among the Palestinians. Starvation is escalated, disease outbreaks flourish and injured people can’t receive treatment. When we look at all of these cumulative factors, there is an unavoidable conclusion to be drawn. The genocide and ethnic cleansing campaign is not over, and it will never be over unless concrete steps are taken. This means boycotting Israeli products and companies, international arms and trade embargoes, and a war crimes tribunal against Israeli commanders and politicians. It means that countries, like South Africa, need to intensify their efforts to combat this assault on international law because Israel is going to resume its killing spree as soon as it can.

Yesh Govender writes in his capacity as an active member of the Durban-based South Africa Palestine Movement (SAPM). 

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media. 

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