Israel created a biblical catastrophe for Palestinians. It still lost the war
Displaced Palestinians wave flags as they return to Rafah on 19 January 2025 following a ceasefire deal
Abed Abou Shhadeh writes in Middle East Eye on 20 January 2025:
It will take the world some time to fully grasp how the incoming US president, Donald Trump, managed to impose a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal on Israel – not from any ideological or moral opposition to the war, but from a narcissistic desire to demonstrate that he alone commands the American empire and will decide when the war ends.
This comes after 15 months of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu skilfully manipulating the Biden administration, leading many around the world to wonder how Tel Aviv managed to dictate its genocidal policies in Gaza to the US, ultimately contributing to the Democrats’ election loss.
Now, we must wait and see how the Trump administration chooses to reward Israel and Netanyahu.
While the Israeli public is still struggling to process how, within a week, Israel was forced to accept the same deal that the Biden administration proposed last spring – raising questions about why the war continued, “sacrificing soldiers’ lives” and endangering the hostages – the more painful realisation is that none of Israel’s original war objectives were achieved.
Israel failed to dismantle Hamas or even significantly weaken its military capabilities. In the end, Israel was forced to sign a deal with Hamas, and there is no foreseeable scenario in which Hamas will not remain a presence in Gaza.
The military campaign did not bring back the hostages, despite Israel completely destroying Gaza. More critically, Israel’s strategic position in the world is now worse than it was at the war’s outset, with the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, Israeli soldiers and officers being accused of war crimes globally, and the Palestinian issue returning to the forefront.
This means that any discussions of normalisation with Arab and Muslim states must now seriously address Palestinian demands.