So who won the Gaza war?

Friday 29-08-2014 05:04 PM
So who won the Gaza war?

Palestinians release fireworks as they celebrate what they said was a victory by Palestinians in Gaza over Israel following a ceasefire, in the West Bank city of Ramallah August 26, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

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By Rana Muhammad Taha

Hamas, Gaza’s governing body, celebrated on Wednesday the end of the latest Israeli offensive on the strip, announcing itself the “victor” in the 50-day war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile said Israel has achieved a “great military and political victory,” adding that the truce does not grant Hamas any of its previous conditions for the ceasefire.

The truce was announced by Egypt and welcomed by Israel and the Palestinians on Tuesday evening, ending a war that has left 2139 Palestinians killed and over 11,100 injured. On the Israeli side sixty-four soldiers and six civilians were killed.

Throughout the negotiations that dragged on during the war, amid short interruptions, both fighting parties pushed for certain demands. While some demands were officially announced, others were only reported off record.

Hamas’ strongest demand was lifting the air, land and sea blockade enforced on Gaza since 2007. The August 26 truce calls for opening the borders between Israel and Gaza simultaneously with the enforcement of a ceasefire, to allow the swift entry of humanitarian aid and reconstruction material into the Gaza strip. It would also see Egypt opening the Rafah border crossing for individuals, reported Reuters.

Another demand by Hamas was extending Gaza’s maritime fishing zone. As per the August 26 agreement, the fishing zone would be “swiftly” extended from three to six nautical miles. The international allowance is 12 miles. The terminology of the agreement doesn’t clearly outline whether the extension must be immediate. 

Hamas pressed for other demands which remained pending despite the enforcement of the ceasefire. The Islamist group was demanding the release of its prisoners over the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal. Other demands, not addressed in the short-term truce, included: building a seaport, reconstructing a destroyed airport and unfreezing its funds.

The August 26 truce meanwhile gives both parties a time span of one month to return to indirect negotiations over unresolved points, should the ceasefire hold.

Another point agreed upon in the truce involves granting the Palestinian Authority, rather than Hamas, responsibility over administering Gaza’s borders, reported Reuters. This condition was reportedly pushed for by Israel and Egypt to prevent the flow of weapons, ammunition and “dual-use” goods into the strip.

The condition slightly answers Israel’s most pressing demand throughout the negotiations; dimilitarising Gaza. 

Addressing a press conference in Qatar on Thursday, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal dismissed the possibility of the group “ever” giving up its arms.

Netanyahu boasted on Wednesday about Israel’s success in “killing over a thousand terrorists including leading figures,” and destroying thousands of rockets, bases and weapons’ warehouses. According to Israeli figures, it allegedly destroyed two thirds of Hamas’ arsenal of rockets.

Ofir Gendelman, the Israeli prime minister’s spokesman for Arab media, said on Wednesday that Hamas accepted the same ceasefire proposal it had previously rejected “because of the military pressure Israel put on Hamas in the recent days.”

The ceasefire proposal largely stayed true to its most basic version, proposed by Egypt on July 14, three days before Israel began its ground operation in Gaza.

The initial proposal stipulated that the opening of the border crossings was to progress “in light of the stable security situation on the ground.”  It also failed to address Gaza’s fishing zone. 

Though Israel approved it, the proposal was rejected by Hamas, which said at the time that the initiative was “not in the Palestinians’ best interest.” 

Hamas did not officially address the similarities between the initial proposal it had refused in July and the enforced ceasefire. The group nevertheless insists it came out “victorious” in the war, saying it “politically withstood [the Israeli offensive], defending its principles.” It added that it endured to achieve the Gazans’ demands, most importantly that of lifting the siege.

During the Thursday press conference, Meshaal stressed that the siege was “broken”, reported the Palestinian News Network.

Timeline of different short-term ceasefire proposals before the August 26 truce:

Jul 8 – Israeli offensive on the Gaza strip begins to halt rocket-fire from Hamas

Jul 14 – Egypt proposes ceasefire agreement (Without formally approaching Hamas)

Jul 16 – Israel accepts the Egyptian proposal

Hamas rejects the proposal

Jul 17 – Hamas breaches a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire

Israel launches a ground operation in Gaza

Jul 21 – United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and United States Secretary of State John Kerry arrive in Cairo for talks over the Egyptian ceasefire agreement

Jul 25 – Kerry and Ban announce a 12-hour humanitarian ceasefire from Cairo

Jul 26 – Kerry travels to Paris for talks over Gaza

Talks fail to enforce a weeklong humanitarian ceasefire

Aug 1 – Egypt invites warring parties to Cairo talks

A 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire is broken in the first three hours

Aug 3 – Palestinian delegation arrives in Cairo for ceasefire talks

Aug 5- 72-hour ceasefire announced

Israeli ground troops withdrawn

Aug 10 – Egypt calls for a 72-hour ceasefire to resume Cairo negotiations

Both parties accept

Aug 13 – Ceasefire extended to five days

Aug 18 – plans to hold conference over Gaza reconstruction announced

Ceasefire extended for 24-hours to resume talks

Aug 19 – Ceasefire is breached hours before its expiry

Israeli delegation in Cairo recalled

Aug 21 – Israel kills three senior Hamas officials

(Mohamed Abu Shamala, Raed al-Attar, Mohamed Barhum)

Aug 22 – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrives in Cairo

Aug 23 – Egypt calls for an “indefinite” ceasefire

Aug 26 – long-term truce reached

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