This is the right time for a ceasefire

By: Omar Shaban

With the passing of eighteen days of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, and with the distinguished achievements the Gaza Strip and the resistance have realised — not only in the military confrontation but at the political, media, and legal level — and according to the equation of cost and return, which must govern any decision, it has become suitable, in my opinion, that the resistance forces deal with flexibility and positivity with the ceasefire proposals, taking into consideration the following realised achievements:-

• The resistance has proven, in a way that leaves no room for doubt, that it is able to stand with solidity in the face of the diverse and advanced Israeli war machine, and to inflict heavy losses on it and influence greatly the course of life in Israel at the economic, political, tourism, and media level and on its image in the West.

• Bringing the issue of the Israeli blockade imposed since 2007 — even if lightened noticeably just after the Freedom Flotilla incident at the end of May 2010 — into the circle of official and popular Arab and international attention. It has become the conviction of many of the decision-making circles in the West that there is no alternative to lifting the blockade from the Gaza Strip: three wars in seven years have not solved the problem of Gaza and Hamas, so work must proceed to avoid a fourth war.

• Restoring the popular and official Arab, Islamic, and Western attention to the Palestinian cause in general and the tragedy of the Gaza Strip in particular, which was manifested in tens of huge demonstrations in tens of cities around the world — confirming once again that the Palestinian cause is still an important cause and work must proceed on finding a strategic solution for it.

• Realising the unity of the Palestinian position, which was manifested in the speech of President Mahmoud Abbas and the statement of the Palestinian leadership, where they took a position wholly attached to the resistance's position — with the need to transform this position into deeds. It will be counted to the credit of the resistance and the steadfastness of our people in the Gaza Strip the merit of realising the Palestinian unity — which tens of rounds of dialogue and many reconciliation agreements did not realise.

• Restoring and strengthening the bonds of brotherhood and unity of destiny between the West Bank and Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, which were affected negatively in the years of the blockade — through the massive marches that roamed the cities and villages of the West Bank and likewise the '48 areas.

• Improving the atmosphere in the Arab surroundings — among them, for example, the return of the official relations between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and the return of communication, even if shyly, between Egypt and the Hamas leadership. The resistance likewise contributed to the return of official Arab attention to the Palestinian cause.

In my estimation these are sufficient and very convincing achievements that justify the positive dealing with the ceasefire initiatives, whether the Egyptian initiative or other initiatives. The achievement at the level of the resistance will be followed by diligent political work that has the surpassing capacity to employ the resistance's achievement into fruits at the political and national level. The work will not stop with the aggression's end; rather it will continue, at an accelerating pace, to undo the unjust blockade, strengthen national unity, activate Palestinian work, and repair the relationship with the Arab surroundings in what returns the Palestinian cause to the forefront

The Gaza Strip is subjected to an aggression without precedent in its cruelty and its destruction, and it has produced an unbearable humanitarian tragedy. Thousands of citizens and families were forced to leave their houses without carrying any of their possessions, with a continuous cutting of electricity for more than 20 hours daily, in the blessed atmosphere of fasting, the intensity of the heat, and scarcity in many of the basic goods. And more important than all that: hundreds of martyrs and thousands of wounded and the destruction of thousands of houses and the infrastructure.

Our conflict with Israel is not decided by one battle or by the knockout blow; rather it is a long course of struggle in all its patterns. This course comprises many stations of confrontation, calming, and the gathering of achievements — not in the field of resistance in its narrow meaning, but in its wide meaning, which comprises protecting and strengthening the internal front, modernising the Palestinian political system, holding elections that renew life in it, bringing about sustainable human development independent of international funding, and strengthening the state of international solidarity with our cause until we gain our rights to freedom and independence.