The Israeli government has withdrawn the last of its ground troops today, as the new ceasefire has taken effect and seems to be holding. So far, all cross-border attacks have been halted by both sides.
That 72-hour truce opens up a window for negotiations on a peace settlement, and while Israel won’t meet directly with the Palestinians on the matter, the Egyptian junta has agreed to act as mediator, ferrying messages back and forth between the two sides until a pact is reached.
The return of calm, whether temporary or not, allows hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans to return to their homes, or at least to the rubble that used to be their homes before the intense Israeli bombardment.
Massive amounts of damage and death in civilian neighborhoods has many still talking about bringing up the Israeli government on war crimes charges, and the Palestinian Foreign Ministry is pushing the International Criminal Court for an investigation.
That’s probably a long shot, as the US generally protects Israel from any war crimes allegations, even when faced with a preponderance of evidence and even when US officials have been critical of the Israeli war.
The more pressing issue, at any rate, is negotiating a settlement, so that the 72-hour ceasefire doesn’t simply end with a return to Israeli shelling. The withdrawal of ground troops is encouraging, but Israel seemed to be in the process of doing that at any rate, trying to limit their own casualties and return the war to its pre-invasion state.
There's got to be a better way to do this than slow first, then super fast extermination of Gazan children, most of who could not have voted for Hamas in 2006. Israel can show them what monsters they are…that will teach them! Kill busloads of children and women! How brave and tough they are! The Israeli Uber Alles trolls both paid and unpaid on places like Al-Monitor and the Daily Beast are rubbing their crotches raw over the free reign Nazisrael is getting in Gaza. If only they could drink the blood of the dead, they would be Invincible!
America, the disappointing hook-nosed phony of the free world. Nothing the Israeli Jew does is ever wrong. American phony condones genocide on one hand and threatens war over it on the other. No moral center any longer, it would seem. Smart countries need to look elsewhere for morality as the US gov't only echoes the noise of the highest payers.
If this is not a War Crime, will someone please tell me what is ? In my worst nightmares, do not let this latest attack drift away, and "settle down" into the "forget about it" file. Please say that we will remember the events a year from now as clearly as we do in this moment. Zionists, and American leaders have seen that the masses tend to forget things very quickly with every new distraction. I am ashamed of anyone who is "standing with Israel." It's worth losing a few delusional friends to be on the right side of history.
@ Belphegor69 I agree with everything you say, and I am American.