After 471 days of Israeli genocide against our steadfast people, the long-awaited ceasefire enters into effect today Sunday 19 January. Over 120 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli genocidal machine since the ceasefire was announced on Wednesday 15 January.
The ceasefire comes 15 months too late, with similar proposals accepted by Palestinian factions as early as November 2023 and with the exact deal proposed in May 2024, showing the complete dehumanization of Palestinian lives.
The ceasefire offers a temporary and necessary respite but it does not end colonial violence, it does not end oppression, it is not a solution.
The Current Reality Requires Urgent Action to Address the Root Causes of Oppression:
The colonial fragmentation of Palestine and Palestinians is a strategy. Gaza has been under total blockade for the past 16 years. However, for the past 16 months Israel has committed one of the most atrocious genocides in history, carrying out massacres, annihilating entire families, forcibly displacing 90% of the population, using starvation as a weapon of war, and destroying 65% of homes and infrastructure, along with all universities, schools and hospitals. To date, Israel has killed over 46,913 Palestinians, including more than 20,000 children, and injured over 110,750. The true death toll in Gaza could well surpass 200,000 Palestinians. Keeping in mind our our coloniser’s interest now that a ceasefire is in place, we fear an aftermath of mass expulsion and a further ethnic cleansing.
In the West Bank, Palestinians are confronting entrenched annexation, with or without ceasefire with over 24,000 dunams of land confiscated for jewish-only settlements. More than 6,635 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced due to demolitions and settler violence. Military raids have escalated, particularly in refugee camps, with over 824 Palestinians killed across the West Bank since October 2023.
While the ceasefire foresees an exchange of prisoners, over 7000 Palestinian political prisoners still remain in Israeli jails and many Palestinian residents in Gaza remain forcible disappeared, enduring systemic torture and the most brutal conditions ever witnessed in the history of Palestinian political imprisonment.
In the region Israel has repeatedly said that its strategy is to “ reshape the Middle East”. In Lebanon, Israel’s military invasion has claimed over 3,189 lives, injured 14,078, and forcibly displaced more than 1.2 million people. Exploiting the fall of the Assad regime, Israel has launched unprecedented military aggression into Syrian territory, deepening its occupation in the territory.
What Needs to Happen Now?
1. Push for the respect of the ceasefire and subsequent phases
The current deal, divided into three phases, includes full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a complete ceasefire only in the final stage—an outcome Israel is unlikely to pursue, based on historical patterns. However, with sanctions and arms and energy embargo Israel might reconsider its decisions. Collective and immediate action is needed to hold the perpetrator accountable.
2. Reject the Weaponizing of Aid
Ongoing efforts to replace UNRWA and the UN coordination humanitarian system – despite its many flaws – with private contractors aligned with U.S. and Israeli interests undermine the integrity of humanitarian efforts, and advance Israeli colonial objectives. Reject any governance or aid delivery plans, void of Palestinian agency and sovereignty, that seek only to entrench colonization. Humanitarian aid needs to be fully allowed to the entire Gaza Strip. 3.
3. Sanction Israel and Hold Criminals Accountable
Demand justice for war crimes, apartheid, genocide, and atrocity crimes. Advocate for arms embargoes, energy embargoes, and sanctions. This is not only a moral duty but also a legal one. Sanctions and ending complicity with Israel were voted for by a global majority of 124 states at the UN General Assembly and reaffirmed by the International Court of Justice this year. These legal obligations do not end with the ceasefire.
Support Campaigns for justice:
– Demand Justice against the Military who have participated in the genocide
– Demand an Arms embargo
– Demand a Global Energy Embargo for Palestine
– Hold Complicit corporations accountable. Databases and campaigns: BDS List / Don’t Buy into Occupation List / AFSC Investigate Database / WhoProfits database / The WaterMelon Index
4. Protect Palestinian Civil Society
The global suppression of Palestinians’ right to resist oppression, from censorship to silencing to intimidation is escalating. From journalists in Gaza to teachers in Germany, all social forces must push back against anti-Palestinian racism that only promotes Israeli impunity.
At the same time, many political and civic actors are trying to promote “peacebuilding” initiatives, a return to a “two-state solution”, all smokescreen to shield Israel from accountability, undermine legal obligations of international actors and force Palestinians to negotiate their rights instead of rightfully fighting for them and change the unjust reality.
5. Demand immediate Political Processes and governance mechanism that ensures Palestinian agency
Now more than ever, political processes must center Palestinian liberation, return and self-determination. From the partition of Palestine to the Oslo Accords to Trump’s plan, history has repeatedly shown that Palestinians are asked to surrender their fundamental rights. The ceasefire negotiations, their aftermath, and discussions about the “day after” and “rebuilding Gaza” are no exceptions.
“Rebuilding Gaza” must not perpetuate dependency on humanitarian aid or indirectly contribute to further forced displacement. True rebuilding must be a Palestinian-owned process —both in decision-making as well as in implementation. A Palestinian-owned process must include representatives of all political and social stakeholders without being captured by foreign-sponsored individuals or authorities.
The “day after” is not only about the rebuilding of infrastructures and livelihoods but about a liberatory rebuilding that reclaims Palestinian dignity and unity, ends the blockade and occupation, and enables the right of return.
In the coming months, our team and our coalitions will redouble their efforts to continue supporting the strengthening of the Palestinian international movement for liberation and lobby strategically for accountability.
Until liberation, Until return.
Inès Abdelrazek & Rula Shadeed
PIPD Co Directors