News of an agreement between Hamas and Israel is a rare moment of hope after more than 15 months of unprecedented and relentless atrocities – but the big test will be what happens next, whether it is adhered to, and whether a temporary pause becomes permanent. Lasting peace will not be possible without an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
For almost 500 days Israel has carried out daily massacres, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and starvation against Palestinian civilians in Gaza, as pleas for a ceasefire have been ignored. We have witnessed unimaginable death and destruction that has left the Gaza Strip in ruins, killed tens of thousands of people and left even more with life-changing wounds. International law has been trampled over with complete impunity as Israel has targeted hospitals, schools and shelters; forcibly relocated families; and cruelly blocked humanitarian aid from reaching survivors, killing babies from malnutrition and hypothermia.
Even as these negotiations entered the final stage, dozens more Palestinians have been killed in just the past 24 hours as Israeli bombs continued to rain down on shelters.
We pray this stops now. It’s vital that this agreement is now fully and immediately implemented, and that the initial temporary pause becomes a permanent ceasefire.
The humanitarian situation is catastrophic, and we hope this agreement will enable aid agencies to massively scale up assistance to help stop the threat of famine. Islamic Relief is ready to scale up our response, but previous promises to allow more aid in over the past year have been immediately broken. All restrictions on humanitarian access must now be lifted, and the international community must hold Israel accountable if aid continues to be blocked.
This agreement must lead to a lasting peace, with justice and accountability for the horrors perpetrated against civilians. We want to see a lasting peace where all people can live in safety and dignity, and have their fundamental human rights upheld. We believe this will not be possible until the root causes of the crisis are addressed and there is an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
