The ceasefire won’t end Israel’s violence: 9 key issues

The ceasefire deal has temporarily reduced Israel’s genocidal assault on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and allowed some captives to return home. But the ceasefire is shaky at best – and doesn’t stop Israel from continuing to attack Palestinians, hold Israel to account for its war crimes, or bring justice for Palestinians. Read on for the nine key issues to watch out for as the ceasefire progresses:

1. Israel violating the ceasefire deal 

The deal that Israel and Hamas have agreed has three stages. The first stage includes a ceasefire, the phased release of captives, increased humanitarian aid, the gradual withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from the Gaza Strip, and the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes, or to where their homes used to be.     

But Israel’s armed forces still in and around Gaza have repeatedly broken the ceasefire agreement. They have killed at least 14 Palestinians, including three children, some of whom were displaced people trying to return home to northern Gaza1. 

Separately, on 26 January 2025, Israel violated its ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon, killing 24 people and injuring 134 others hoping to return to their homes in South Lebanon.

There is a clear risk that attacks in Gaza will provoke a response from Hamas – which may be Israel’s intention – to derail the ceasefire and allow Israel to reignite its violent assault on Gaza2  3.

2. Uncertainty with next stages of the deal 

Stages two and three of the deal still need to be worked out, and there is no certainty that agreement will follow. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist allies could sabotage a fuller deal and continue with their stated genocidal intentions of annihilating the Palestinians of Gaza4. 

The later stages of the ceasefire must address the complicated issues of Gaza’s reconstruction and who should control the area – issues which Israel is likely to contest and drag its feet over. Long-standing issues of borders, who Jerusalem belongs to, and the status of Israel’s illegal settlements will similarly not be addressed.     

3. Israel escalating attacks and arrests in the West Bank 

Israel escalated its attacks on Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank since October 2023, and this has only ramped up since the ceasefire was agreed: Israel has killed at least 20 Palestinians in the West Bank, detained at least 90 and forced more than 3,000 Palestinians families from their homes – all within 10 days of the first release of captives on 19 January 20255. 

Many of the Palestinians detained were in the region of Qalqiliya, which is largely separated from the rest of the West Bank by illegal Israeli settlements, placing its Palestinian inhabitants at heightened risk of arrest and other harm from Israel. 

If Israel’s illegal settlements were dismantled, and Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory ended – as required by international law – Israel’s abusive detention which sees Palestinian captives held without charge or trial would end almost overnight. 

4. Palestinian captives are at risk of re-arrest, or worse

Around 300 Palestinian captives have been released as of 28 January 20255, including over 90 women and children. They were either never charged with an offence or were tried and sentenced before grossly unfair military courts, which uphold Israel’s repressive laws6. Also, there is no guarantee in the deal that Israel will not re-arrest, disappear or kill those it releases, as Israel has done over the years after other release deals. 

More than 10,000 Palestinians – including 320 children – remain in Israeli custody, where torture and ill-treatment is rife. At least 3,000 have not been charged. At least 58 Palestinians have died in Israel’s custody since October 2023 – but the real figure may be much higher. Torture of Palestinians in Israeli custody has been widespread and systematic for decades – and yet the perpetrators are never brought to justice.

5. UK complicity continuing 

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy are continuing to provide political, diplomatic, economic and military support to Israel – in spite of its clear abuses against Palestinian detainees, its illegal occupation and apartheid, and genocide. 

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israel is also committing genocide – a finding backed by over 60 countries, UN experts and many others. Despite all of the evidence against Israel, the UK will not uphold international law and use its power to deter Israel’s violent and illegal aggression against the Palestinian people.

6. Hypocrisy of media and politicians in the Global North

In the wake of the captives being released, many media outlets – and politicians – focused on the released Israelis – while largely ignoring the released Palestinians. Starmer 7and Lammy’s8 early statements on the deal ignored Palestinian detainees entirely. 

This is nothing new: UK politicians have ignored and discriminated against Palestinians for more than a century. When the UK government committed to the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine through the Balfour Declaration of 1917, it never mentioned, let alone consulted, the Palestinian people living there – who constituted 95% of the population.     

7. US President Donald Trump’s support for Israel

Many Israeli and US political leaders openly promote Israel’s further expansion through and beyond the illegally occupied Palestinian territory. On his first day in office, US President Trump lifted sanctions from several extremist Israeli settlers – giving a clear indication of the US’s position towards future Israeli land-grabs and settler violence under Trump. 

Trump’s close allies include extremist pro-Israel figures,  including his nominations for US ambassador to UN, Elise Stefanik, who said that Israel has “biblical right” to the West Bank9, and US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who once stated that there is “no such thing as a Palestinian.”10 Trump himself said that he would like to “clean out Gaza”, with Egypt and Jordan to take in hundreds of thousands of Palestinians “and say, you know, it’s over”11. 

8. Life for Palestinians in Gaza 

Despite the reduction in Israel’s genocidal violence across the Gaza Strip, Palestinians’ living conditions remain dire. Those finally able to return to their homes – 160,000 of which were destroyed by Israel – encounter destruction and very little, if any, shelter or essential services. Palestinians are digging with their hands through 42 million tons of toxic rubble, to look for old possessions and remains of loved ones. 

After 15 months of severe blockade and Israeli attacks on humanitarian and health facilities, more than 600 trucks of international aid are now crossing into Gaza each day. Yet this still falls far short of meeting the needs of 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza. Even before October 2023, Gaza received an average of 500 trucks daily – a level which left Palestinians impoverished. 

Humanitarian needs will increase further when Israel bans the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) on 30 January 2025 – the main provider of aid to Palestinian refugees. The UN has said the effect would be “devastating”12. 

9. What the deal ignores: ethnic cleansing, illegal occupation and accountability 

The deal doesn’t address the injustice that Palestinians have faced for the last century – injustice rooted in Israel’s ethnic cleansing, illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and system of apartheid across it. Nor does it end Israel’s illegal blockade imposed on Gaza since 2007 or address the right of return for Palestinians forced from their homes during and since the 1947-48 Nakba – Arabic for ‘catastrophe’ – marking the ethnic cleansing of historic Palestine.

Not only is Israel continuing to get away with these injustices, but it is actively supported by the UK, US and many others. 

Palestinians need peace and justice – and that starts with holding Israel to account.