The announcements regarding Israel-Iran ceasefire were widely welcomed as people felt rightly that top priority must be given to stopping further destruction and loss of human life. There has been very heavy destruction on both sides during the 12 days of war and one shudders to even think of the loss of life and other harm that can be caused by a prolonged war.

Unfortunately, there have been violations of ceasefire in the hours following the operationalizing of the ceasefire. US President Donald Trump stated some hours later (as reported in The Guardian) that Israel has to ‘calm down’. Earlier he said that Israel and Iran violated a ceasefire he tried to broker. Further he said,

“Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs the likes of which I’ve never seen before, the biggest load that we’ve seen.”

Given such a response, it appears that much more follow-up work needs to be done to ensure the effectiveness and success of the ceasefire. The UNO must also join the effort. The question of who gets the credit is not at all important, what is really important is that once we have got so near to a ceasefire this opportunity should not be lost as we have already received enough indications in the previous 12 days regarding how horribly destructive such a war can be if it is prolonged.

What is more, there is the no less significant question of the continuing most tragic suffering of the people of Gaza and to a somewhat lesser extent the Palestinian people of West Bank.

On June 24 when so much was being discussed about the ceasefire, what was happening in Gaza? Al Jazeera reported in the later part of the day,

“Israeli forces and drones have killed more than 80 Palestinians since dawn, including at least 51 near aid distribution centers in the latest attack on desperate people seeking aid in the besieged Gaza strip, according to medical sources in hospitals.”  

Ideally a ceasefire on the Israel-Iran front should have been accompanied by a ceasefire for Gaza too. Unfortunately this did not happen and what was no les distressing was the fact that there was very little mention of the extremely tragic situation in Gaza in the course of the various announcements of ceasefire. Hence what has happened is very far from being a comprehensive peace effort, although this is what should have been aimed for. As any experienced diplomats would readily agree, peace efforts demand much more effort and planning to improve the chances of success instead of being based to a large extent on the announcements of a single powerful leader who is not exactly known for the kind of well-planned peace efforts that can be trusted to have provided for various kinds of eventualities and the various steps that needed to be planned and taken for the success of the ceasefire in these various conditions. 

However it is still not too late to take up essential follow-up measures to improve the chances of the ceasefire succeeding and continuing to to hold despite the existence of some adverse factors and persisting suspicions of the peace process being sabotaged by some powerful interests and lobbies.

Further the concerns of the people of Gaza should never be forgotten, and there cannot be a true celebration of any ceasefire success only on the Israel-Iran front as long as the killings and deprivations in Gaza continue.

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Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Planet in Peril, Saving Earth for Children, Earth without Borders and A Day in 2071. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

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