First Ceasefire, Then Palestinian Liberation; Next Day Netanyahu Delays Vote
Jewish Voice for Peace statement
January 15, 2025
Jewish Voice for Peace
Al Jazeera and News Agencies
January 16, 2025
Al Jazeera
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First Ceasefire, Then Palestinian Liberation
Jewish Voice for Peace statement
January 15, 2025
Jewish Voice for Peace
Today, after 15 months of the Israeli government’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, supported and enabled by the U.S. government, a 42-day ceasefire agreement was reported. We hold tightly to the hope of a halt to the Israeli military’s bombardments, an end to the starvation of Palestinians by the Israeli government, a beginning of rebuilding in Gaza, and the return of hostages held in Israel and in Gaza to their families.
The coming days and weeks during this fragile ceasefire will be critical for the Palestine solidarity movement to turn this temporary agreement into a full halt of the genocide, including the unrestricted flow of humanitarian aid and an end to the Israeli military occupation and siege of Gaza. Since the Israeli government’s genocide began, over 47,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military — a severe undercount, with some estimations as high as hundreds of thousands. The Israeli military has devastated entire neighborhoods and cities, and has razed the centuries-old infrastructure of Palestinian life, decimating Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure, water supplies, electricity grid, schools, universities and cultural institutions.
We mourn each and every precious life lost. As Jews, we know that the trauma of this campaign of annihilation will unfold for generations.
As Americans, we understand that the Israeli genocide has been carried out with U.S. bombs, U.S. funds, and U.S.-facilitated impunity — we continue to demand a full weapons embargo now. We also demand an end to the complicity of corporations that profit from genocide. Left in the hands of the U.S. and Israeli governments, weapons manufacturers, and warmongering institutions, this fragile respite will not mean an end to Israeli genocide or to the violent status quo of Israeli apartheid.
It is up to all of us to ensure that this temporary agreement is only a beginning. Every day of the last 467 days, millions of people around the world have come together to demand an end to the genocide and Palestinian freedom. Together, we must ensure this agreement becomes a step on the path toward Palestinian liberation — the only way to achieve a just peace for all.
[JVP is a national, grassroots organization working towards Palestinian freedom and Judaism beyond Zionism. With roughly 750,000 members, supporters, and participants in the last year, JVP is the largest such organization in the world. ]
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Israel’s Netanyahu Says No Vote On Gaza Truce Until Hamas Accepts Terms
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has threatened to quit the government if it approves the Gaza true deal.
Al Jazeera and News Agencies
January 16, 2025
Al Jazeera
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his cabinet will not meet to vote on the Gaza ceasefire deal “until mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement”.
The Israeli cabinet had been set to meet on Thursday morning to ratify the deal, with the ceasefire scheduled to take effect from Sunday, but Netanyahu said the meeting would not take place.
“Hamas reneges on parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel in an effort to extort last minute concessions,” a statement from Netanyahu said. “The Israeli cabinet will not convene until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement.”
Following the Israeli announcement, senior Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq said in a statement that the Palestinian group was committed to the ceasefire agreement announced by mediators on Wednesday.
Later on Thursday, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he would resign from the government if it ratifies the ceasefire deal in Gaza, which he has strongly opposed.
“The deal that is taking shape is a reckless deal,” Gvir said in a televised statement, adding it would “erase the achievements of the war” by releasing hundreds of Palestinian fighters and withdrawing from strategic areas in Gaza, leaving Hamas undefeated.
“If this irresponsible deal is approved and implemented, we the members of Jewish Power will submit letters of resignation to the prime minister,” he said.
Ben-Gvir also called for a “complete stop” to all humanitarian aid for Gaza, including fuel, electricity and water, until all captives are released.
The minister, whose departure would not bring down Netanyahu’s government, has also urged far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to join him in resigning if the deal is approved by the cabinet.
Smotrich has described the deal as a “catastrophe” for Israel’s national security and his Religious Zionist Party has threatened to quit the government if it does not go back to war with Hamas after the first six-week phase of the ceasefire is completed.
Earlier, several Israeli families, together with supporters, staged a sit-in in front of Netanyahu’s office, calling for the cabinet to not sign the prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.
“Do not sign a deal that means surrender, sacrificing the remaining kidnapped and giving up Israel’s security,” said Yehoshua Shani, the father of Israeli Army Captain Uri Shani, who was killed during the fighting.
“Come here before the cabinet meeting, and join us to ask the prime minister to stop and not sign a surrender deal with Hamas.”
Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Amman, said there weren’t “any sort of leaks about Hamas going back” on what they agreed upon in the ceasefire deal.
“What we are seeing rather is the internal conflict within Netanyahu’s government, specifically among the Religious Zionist Party,” she said.
“This is Smotrich’s party. He has been threatening to bolt the coalition if this deal came to a vote, saying this was a bad deal for Israel and that his party would need guarantees that Israel will go back to all-out fighting … after the initial phase [of the agreement].”
Netanyahu has faced growing domestic pressure to bring home the scores of captives in Gaza, but his far-right coalition partners have threatened to quit his government if he makes too many concessions.
Israeli centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid called on Netanyahu not to back out of the ceasefire deal, reiterating his commitment to supporting the agreement.
The Israeli outlet Haaretz reported that the Israeli security cabinet will now “convene to approve the Gaza ceasefire deal on Friday morning”, citing a senior Israeli source.
“After the security cabinet meeting, the cabinet is expected to vote on the deal. Israeli ministers have not yet been summoned to discuss the deal,” Haaretz reported.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday also expressed confidence that the agreement would go into effect on Sunday.
“I am confident, and I fully expect that implementation will begin, as we said, on Sunday,” Blinken told a news conference in Washington, DC.
Attacks on Gaza continue
Meanwhile, Israeli forces intensified their bombardment across the Gaza Strip, with at least 81 people killed in the past 24 hours, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Thursday.
Another 200 were wounded, the ministry added.
In one attack, two people were killed and six injured after Israeli forces targeted a school sheltering displaced people in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, south of Gaza City, the Palestinian Civil Defence said.
One deadly Israeli attack following the announcement of the ceasefire deal killed 20 Palestinians in Jabalia, northern Gaza.
Gaza’s Civil Defence said that in the an-Nazla area of Jabalia, the victims included two children and two women.
“As we were celebrating the ceasefire announcement, the Israeli warplanes took us by surprise. I woke up to find myself lying in hospital with head injuries,” a boy with a bandaged head told Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim al-Khalili at the site of the attack.
“All my brothers and my aunts were killed. I miraculously survived as a Civil Defence member pulled me from under the rubble.”
Abdullah Khadr told Al Jazeera that his family had gathered to hear the ceasefire announcement.
“As I was about to sleep, I heard a loud explosion. I ran out to find the whole building next to me levelled to the ground; nothing but rubble, dust and smoke rising to the dark skies,” he said.
“I heard screams from under the concrete ruins. Some Civil Defence members rushed to our help, and with our bare hands managed to pull out the dead and a few survivors.”
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 46,788 people and wounded 110,453 since October 7, 2023, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies
