VIDEO: There Hasn’t Been a Real Ceasefire in Gaza Yet
In an in-depth interview with TRT World, Phyllis Bennis breaks down what’s really happening regarding developments on the ground in Gaza and the actual prospects for the Gaza peace deal.
She explains that it’s important to note that the agreed-upon ceasefire has not actually held. Although fewer Gazans are being killed each day, they are still being killed.
“I don’t think we can say this is a turning point,” Phyllis explains. “The beginning of Phase 2 [of the Gaza peace plan] was supposed to follow Phase 1. The problem is Phase 1 is not being completed. Phase 1 was supposed to be a ceasefire. This past weekend, we saw seven Palestinians killed, another seven injured. Three more were killed today, Monday. So this is not the end of Phase 1. Phase 1 has not finished, because there is no ceasefire.”
Critical questions also remain about what will happen to Gaza now in the wake of such ongoing destruction.
“The question is: when will there be a real ceasefire? When will there be a move, a real move, to begin rebuilding Gaza?” Phyllis asks, noting that Israel has begun removing some rubble from Rafah, which was completely destroyed, but it’s unclear when the rest of the rubble will be removed.
Meanwhile, she notes, “We’re talking about two million people that have been almost entirely displaced, that have nowhere to live, nowhere to go back to, and they now have been forced into just half the space of Gaza.”
As for proposed plans to build luxury resort-style buildings over the site of Gaza, Phyllis notes bluntly, “They’re talking about building these glamorous towers over tons of rubble that include the bones of somewhere between ten and fifteen thousand Palestinians killed in the last two years under Israeli bombs. The bones of children, the bones of elders, everyone is there. Is that what they think people want? To build these glamorous towers over the bones of their families? Will that force people to leave? That’s certainly what Israel wants to have happen.”
