VIDEO: “Gaza ceasefire is temporarily stopping the bombs – but that’s not enough”
IPS Middle East expert Phyllis Bennis recently joined Al Jazeera to analyze the Gaza ceasefire deal.
Though a temporary ceasefire has brought a sense of relief to Palestinians and advocates, Phyllis says she still has deep concerns about how this deal will look in practice:
“This is a huge step to stop the bombing, to stop the assault that has been going on for 15 months. But it doesn’t mean that it’s over. That’s what crucial, I think, for all of us to recognize, that even if the beginnings of it go ahead and we see the release of up to several hundred, maybe a thousand Palestinians prisoners and 33 Israeli hostages in the first six weeks, the rest has to be negotiated. We don’t know what’s going to happen next.”
“What we do know is that what has happened so far has transformed public opinion across the United States and across the world, to the degree that Israel has failed in its most important goals,” she adds. The movement for a ceasefire and an end to Israel’s genocide has yet to sway the opinion of the administration, of course, but Phyllis maintains that we can’t say nothing has changed here.
“Things will never go back to the assumption that somehow criticism of Israel is equated with political suicide,” she concludes. “When you go the international space, all you see is the civilian impact in Gaza. That’s critical — that’s never been the case before.”
Watch Phyllis’s full interview below.
