Punalippu: Ceasefire in Gaza -Yankee imperialism and Israel fail in their plans

We hereby share an unofficial translation of an article published by Punalippu from Finland.

On January 15, Israel and the Palestinian National Resistance Front, lead by Hamas, signed a ceasefire proposal brokered by Qatar and the United States, and the Israeli government finally voted in favor of it early Saturday after trying to blame Hamas for the delay due to internal conflicts within its own government. The first phase of the ceasefire should take effect on Sunday. The ceasefire shows that Israel and its imperialist masters, mainly Yankee imperialism, have failed to destroy Gaza as a bastion of the national liberation struggle through military means and were forced to their knees, accepting a ceasefire through mass-based armed struggle. Israel has not succeeded in destroying the national resistance, which has continued to show itself to be viable. The perseverance shown by the Palestinian people in the face of a monstrous enemy has inspired the anti-imperialist struggle throughout the world and has revealed the true nature of imperialism to ever wider masses. The ceasefire is the result of the brave armed struggle of the Palestinian national resistance front and the perseverance of the Palestinian people, as well as the solid support shown by the peoples of the world for the Palestinian people, and especially the rise of the national armed liberation struggle in the surrounding area.

The ceasefire agreement outlines three phases, the content of two is still being negotiated. The first phase, scheduled to begin on Sunday and lasting six weeks, would include a cessation of fighting, a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a limited exchange of prisoners, the return of those driven from their homes, the entry of 600 aid trucks into Gaza daily, treatment of the wounded outside of Gaza, and the opening of the Rafah border crossing seven days after the ceasefire takes effect. The Palestinian National Resistance will exchange 33 prisoners, who are women, children and civilians over the age of 50, for 1,700 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom are serving life sentences and at least 1,000 of whom have been imprisoned since October 7. Israel withdraws from Gaza’s population centers to within 700 meters of Gaza’s borders. However, this apparently does not apply to the Netzarim Corridor that cuts through Gaza, from which the withdrawal will take place in stages. The second and third phases would include the release of even more prisoners and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

The fact that earlier, at the turn of May-June, Israel stopped the negotiations, saying that only the complete destruction of Hamas’s military and administrative capabilities is sufficient for the fact that the ceasefire is precisely the result of the persistent Palestinian armed resistance struggle also speaks for it. In addition, for example, the Minister of State Finance Bezalel Smotrich has stated that the agreement is bad and dangerous for Israel’s “security”.

During and after the first phase, the second and third phases are negotiated. However, the realization of these seems uncertain. The imperialists, led by Yankee imperialism, clearly hope that the phases of the ceasefire will lead to a peace of bayonets and the installation of a “Palestinian Authority” murdering its own people as the minions of Israel to rule Gaza as part of the third phase of the ceasefire. It should be noted that at this point an agreement on the phases of the ceasefire has only been reached at the level of principle, and the details of the second and third phases have not been accepted by either Hamas or the Israelis. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has proposed that the “reconstruction” of Gaza would mean the installation of a “Palestinian Authority” backed by “international partners” (imperialists, mainly Yankee imperialism, and their lackeys) to “supervise” Gaza. On January 15, a meeting was also organized in Oslo under the leadership of Norwegian imperialism, where the way to a two-state solution was discussed. The president of the “Palestinian Authority” participated in this meeting and presented e.g. its hope that with the support of its “international partners” it could act quickly and begin to rule Gaza as well. In addition, the Yankee think tank Atlantic Council has proposed that in the short term different Arab states should be responsible for “security” in Gaza. This means that in order to save their image, Yankee imperialism would increase the role of the lackey governments of the Arab states in suppressing the national liberation struggle in Palestine. This plan is doomed to failure anyway. The forces in the occupied West Bank administered by the “Palestinian Authority” are increasingly resisting the traitor countries, the occupier’s minions and the rotten “Palestinian Authority”, and it is sheer chauvinism of the imperialist countries’ opportunists and imperialist apologetics to try to present this as an alternative.

Yankee imperialism is trying to wash the blood off its hands by presenting itself as a great peace broker who has created “peace” in the Middle East. Israel has continued its heavy bombing of Gaza and murdered more than 120 Palestinians since the declaration of the cease-fire agreement, mainly with weapons granted to it by Yankee imperialism. This is the terror of a beaten, retreating army. The Palestinian people and the peoples of the world that support them will not forget the crimes of the imperialists and their lackeys, no matter how they try to present themselves as peacemakers. More significant than the actions of the imperialists is the armed, steadfast resistance of the Palestinian people and the rise of the anti-imperialist struggle it has inspired all over the world, which calls for proletarian revolutionaries to take its lead in order to completely defeat the enemy and wipe out imperialism. Opportunists try to induce passivity in the emerging movement by appealing to illusions of peace. However, there is no end in sight to Israel’s occupation and the Gaza Strip, and keeping the entire six-week ceasefire seems uncertain. Imperialism is not changing its nature and the people of Palestine and other peoples of the Greater Middle East are still fighting for their liberation.

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