The end of phase one of the Gaza ceasefire passed on 28 February. With cruel predictability, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli government days later imposed an immediate blockade on all aid entering the Strip. An attempt to starve Palestinians and compel Hamas to agree to a process by which all Israeli hostages are released and Israeli forces remain in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes and ground attacks continue to kill Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank.
The initial Gaza ceasefire agreement included a move to phase two from the beginning of March, including as part of it the full withdrawal of Israeli forces and a plan for a permanent end to the war. Netanyahu, apparently with US backing, is not prepared to withdraw. His government is no doubt considering how it can try to bring about ‘facts on the ground’ in line with Trump’s goal of expelling Palestinians from Gaza. Egging him on are the far-right in his coalition, who are particularly keen to see Trump’s plan realized. But Netanyahu’s government is also faced with huge Israeli public pressure to secure the release of remaining hostages.
At the time of writing, it is not clear what the immediate next steps will be. But it includes the possibility of another major Israeli offensive, to again drive Palestinians out of the north of Gaza, for example.
Anti-war protests and workers’ actions here in Britain need to be continued and stepped up – demanding an immediate end to the war, a full withdrawal of the Israeli military from the occupied territories and a massive input of aid and reconstruction. Socialist election candidates standing in May’s local elections, as well as urgently raising those demands during their campaigning, can put forward a socialist solution to the conflict:
- End the siege of Gaza and the occupation of all the Palestinian territories. For the permanent withdrawal of the Israeli military from those areas
- For a mass struggle of the Palestinians, under their own democratic control, to fight for liberation
- For the building of independent workers’ parties in Palestine and Israel and links between them
- For an independent, socialist Palestinian state, alongside a socialist Israel, with guaranteed democratic rights for all minorities, as part of the struggle for a socialist Middle East
- No trust in capitalist politicians internationally. Fight to build workers’ parties that stand for socialism and internationalism.
