Gaza peace talks

The breakthrough in talks between Israel and Hamas to secure a new peace deal in Gaza has come as a vital reprieve. According to reports, Hamas has agreed to release Israeli hostages 16 days after the first phase of an agreement aimed at ending the war in Gaza. The first phase will be three-week long.
The news is a cause for quiet satisfaction (as obstacles still remain) for the brutally war-torn Palestinians of Gaza as well as the rest of the world, watching in horror Israel’s genocidal retaliation to Hamas’ October 7, 2023, cross-border raid on Israeli settlements. The raid claimed 1,200 lives and 250 settlers and Israeli army personnel were taken captive. In response, Israel has by now killed over 38,000 Palestinians in just Gaza, with thousands more missing under the rubble of buildings relentlessly bombarded. There are no tallies for the number of Palestinians injured in the war. Israeli military excesses have also been reported from the occupied Palestinian territory of West Bank. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is such that millions have been repeatedly displaced over the last nine months and 96 per cent of its inhabitants are facing acute hunger.
The war in Gaza has been a massive strategic failure for the West. It has laid bare the hypocrisy of imperialist narratives of freedom of speech and human rights. The crisis has also proved beyond any doubt that it considers Israel a satellite state that ensures the dominance of imperialist policies in the Arab world. The West must ensure Israel pursues these talks to a tee, considering the global backlash it faces for its one-sided policies. Failure to support the peace process could further erode the West’s credibility and destabilise its influence in the Middle East. Hamas must also commit to the peace talks, ensuring that both parties adhere to the agreements to foster a lasting resolution.