The British newspaper The Guardian said in its editorial that the agreement brokered by the United States is a success for Lebanese civilians who suffered under the weight of a conflict that lasted about 14 months, as a result of which about 4,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands were displaced.
But this agreement, despite being a success for outgoing US President Joe Biden, after months of weak and ineffective diplomatic efforts, came on the terms of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and gives the Palestinians little hope, the Guardian explains.
In the newspaper’s opinion, the situation in Gaza, where the number of martyrs exceeded 44,000, does not show any signs of peace, amid the continued Israeli bombing and “barbaric, shameful and brutal” destruction from the north of the Strip to its south.
She added that in a region standing on the brink of abyss, any permanent peace deal must include a ceasefire in Gaza and the creation of realistic conditions for a Palestinian state that has the elements of continuity, warning that “peace is not the silence of graves.”
Netanyahu and his party
The editorial stressed that Netanyahu does not want peace, at a time when he is trying to evade a corruption trial and elections that would inflame voters’ anger after October 7, 2023, and his interest instead lies in prolonging the state of national emergency, and in “pampering” members of his government. The “extremist” right-wingers who could overthrow him, and who dream of new settlements in Gaza that are destroyed and ethnically cleansed of Palestinians.
The newspaper said that Hezbollah’s weakness gave Israel room to disengage from two simultaneous wars in Lebanon and Gaza, leaving its hand free to act in the besieged Gaza Strip. The agreement also removed a direct threat to Israel’s northern border, which will give Netanyahu the opportunity to focus on his other aggressive goals, especially towards Iran.
The Guardian confirms that the world now has nothing but hope that the beginning of President-elect Donald Trump’s term can change the course of things.