The ceasefire was something that could have happened many months ago, if the US had the will, but it was Palestinian steadfastness that brought it to pass, argue Michael Lavalette and Shabbir Lakha

After 15 months of death and destruction, Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza is due to come to an end on Sunday 19 January. 

The deal will be implemented in three phases. In Phase 1, covering a six week period, Israeli bombing will stop and Israeli occupation forces will withdraw from the main towns and cities. 30 Israeli hostages will be released and a number of Palestinian prisoners/hostages will be returned home. Phases 2 and 3 will extend the ceasefire and see the removal of all Israeli occupation forces from Gaza – and start the reconstruction of the strip.

The ceasefire announcement was met with celebrations in Gaza. At last there is an end in sight to their horror. The ceasefire is something they have wished for and has been a central demand of the global pro-Palestine movement since October 2023. At last the Gazans will be able to sleep without the fear that they and their children may not wake. Families and communities will now be able to go back to what is left of their towns and cities.

This will of course be after four days when the ceasefire comes into effect. Israel has made it standard practice to intensify its bombing in the time between a ceasefire is agreed and implemented, in Gaza previously and in Lebanon more recently.

The remarkable steadfastness (what the Palestinians call ‘Samud’) of the Gazans has been awe inspiring in the face of the horrors of the last 15 months. They have been bombed, displaced, starved and denied water, electricity and the basic necessities of life. Their hospitals, schools, homes, mosques, churches, universities, libraries, welfare centres and communal hubs have been obliterated.

Gazans will be returning from tents to rubble. Over the coming weeks and months we will get more accurate figures of the Palestinians killed over the last 15 months. Disease and starvation is widespread across the strip and will not end with the ceasefire.

There now needs to be a massive influx of aid and supplies to address their suffering. For months the US, Britain and the EU have provided the Israelis with the resources and ordnance to continue their genocide. The billions of pounds and dollars given to support Israel’s war should now be diverted to humanitarian aid for Palestinians.

Israeli political cracks widen

The ceasefire announcement has caused significant fallout within the Israeli cabinet. From the start Netanyahu has claimed that there would be no ceasefire without the complete destruction of Hamas. The far-right ministers in his coalition (like Ben-Gvir) have been committed to the complete displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and its re-colonisation by settlers.

The deal makes it clear that Hamas remain a significant player in Gaza and this is a significant defeat for Netanyahu. Further, in Phase 2 and 3 the proposal is for the removal of all Israeli occupation forces from Gaza and no settlements – a defeat for the Ben Gvir wing of the cabinet. The strains in the Israeli cabinet are likely to burst out into political warfare soon – one that Netanyahu will struggle to control.

For the last few days, the Israeli press have suggested that Netanyahu has been pushed into agreeing the deal because he wants to position himself close to Trump. Both Biden and Trump are claiming the deal is down to them. Both of their teams have been working closely to push the deal through – which emphasises that a ceasefire could have been implemented months ago if the US government had had the will. But Biden enabled the genocide rather than demanding peace. He leaves office next week with the blood of tens of thousands of Palestinians on his hands.

So what now?

The Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank have made it clear: they will not be pushed out of their land and they continue to demand the right to return and the right to life! The Palestinians have not gone away.

But dangers persist. We cannot say for certain that ceasefire will hold, and Israel will continue its siege and its ‘peace-time’ level of regular air strikes on Gaza regardless. The incoming Trump administration has hinted at possibly supporting Israeli annexation of the West Bank – a horrific proposition.

Meanwhile, the political landscape in the region has changed significantly in the last year. Iran and Hezbollah have been weakened as regional powers and Israel continues to bomb Lebanon, Yemen and Syria, and is occupying more land of the latter. All of this spells more instability in the region and the prospect of more flashpoints to come. But Israel has also cemented its status as a pariah state and the west is more isolated than ever, in the region and globally.

In Britain the pro-Palestine movement has shaped politics for the last 15 months. We will not go away, but continue to demand an end to the occupation, an end to the arming of Israel and for the genocide enablers in our government to be held to account.

The last 15 months has shown that it is within the interests of our ruling class and the imperialist project they defend to support the slaughter the Palestinian people. It has shown how shallow our democracy is when the vast majority of the population have supported a ceasefire and two successive governments have done everything to do the opposite, including by trying to criminalise our movement for peace.

Now more than ever we must demand the dismantling of the apartheid state, of free movement of Palestinians across Palestine48, of equal rights in all aspects of life for Palestinians and for the right of return of Palestinian refugees. We have every reason to keep fighting, for justice for the Palestinians, against imperialism and to defend our democratic rights.