A long-term ceasefire was declared on Tuesday between Israel and the Palestinian people. The truce has begun at 19:00 local time (16:00 GMT) and marked the end of seven weeks of killings and bombings which have taken the lives of more than 2,000 people, many of whom were innocent civilians.
According to UNICEF, the war in Gaza has taken the lives of more than 500 children and young people, with 307 boys and 184 girls aged from 10 to 17 years, being killed. The horrifying data evokes questions whether or not the truce was declared too late. The ceasefire does not necessarily mean that the conflict is ended, as it seems that there are still a lot of issues left between the Israeli government and Palestine.
Members of Hamas have said that the truce represents a ‘victory for the resistance’. The gunfire has stopped in Gaza and the Israeli government should allow aid and building materials into Gaza, to allow the Palestinian people to recover and rebuild the bombed areas.
In a month’s time, according to the ceasefire proposal, which was made by Egypt, Israeli and Palestinian officials will discuss the freeing of an estimated 100 prisoners, construction of the airport and other problems. The truce also demands guarantees that weapons would not be smuggled into Gaza.
The truce and ceasefire were welcomed positively around the world; though United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed concerns regarding the future of the truce via his spokesman: “Any peace effort that does not tackle the root causes of the crisis will do little more than set the stage for the next cycle of violence”.
The truce may only temporarily end pointless killings of innocent people, without actually establishing a long-term peace. There are still many issues and conflict points left between Palestine and Israel, these need to be solved immediately in order to prevent any further massacres.
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