The ceasefire in the Middle East has been a bit overwhelming and has caused a lot of trouble.
Let's talk about the actual plight of the people in Gaza first. The ceasefire has been almost two weeks, and life has not improved much. The World Health Organization has evacuated 41 critically ill patients, but there are still about 15,000 patients waiting for permission to leave the country for medical treatment, which is not a small number.
232 children were taken through the medical corridor across Jordan, but most of them were delayed due to the lack of medication in Gaza, the best time for treatment.You think, this life passage should have been free, as a result Israel took the security review as a reason to delay the approval, and the UN said the emergency medical visa has not been implemented, this efficiency is really alarming.
There is something even more annoying. Gaza is about to become an information black hole. Since the war in October 2023, Israel has not allowed international journalists in.
Recently, the Israeli Supreme Court held a hearing to discuss whether or not to open, and the result was only to have the government re-think the position within 30 days, which is not resolved.
The Foreign Correspondents Association (FPA), which represents media outlets such as the Associated Press, directly said Israel's attitude was unacceptable. Once this information is blocked, rumors will easily emerge, let alone supervising the reconstruction of Gaza. The United States says it has invested billions in infrastructure, but local people complain that even basic electricity has not been restored. No one can tell where the money has been spent.
Speaking of the people’s lives, let’s talk about the small twist between the U.S. and Israel’s allies.On October 23 local time, the Israeli parliament voted in favour of the annexation of the West Bank during Vice President J.D. Wans’s visit, which was symbolic.
Before leaving, Vance got angry at Tel Aviv Airport, saying it was an insult to the ceasefire agreement, and stressing that the Trump administration explicitly opposed annexation. In fact, this vote can't become a law at all. Netanyahu himself opposes it, and only one person in the Likud group he leads supports it. Obviously, the hardliners in parliament want to add to him.
Don't think this is a trivial matter. The trust between the United States and Israel has been affected. After the ceasefire, the United States quickly set up a civilian-military coordination center in Israel and sent 200 U.S. troops to help plan reconstruction. As a result, there was still infighting on Israel's side.
Not to mention that key allies such as the United Arab Emirates have long regarded annexation as a red line. If Israel makes such a noise, the credibility of the United States' mediation in the Middle East will be compromised.
Let's talk about the reconstruction of Gaza. It looks lively, but it's actually difficult. The United States wants to engage in a dual-track system: while pulling international troops to stabilize the situation, it also trains Palestinian police forces to replace Hamas.
But the reality is that countries such as Indonesia and Azerbaijan that may send troops are all waiting to see. Although the U.S. military went to Israel, it stated clearly that it would only coordinate and not participate. It is unknown how long the formation of this multinational force will be delayed.
What is even more troublesome is that Israel approved the plan to take over Gaza City as early as August, hoping to use military control to drive Hamas away, which is completely inconsistent with the civilian governance that the United States wants.
Training the Palestinian police force has also not been smooth. Secretary of State Rubio himself said that the force would have to train for at least several months and be fully equipped before it could work. However, Israel has been blockading Gaza and people cannot get out and supplies cannot get in.
Hamas did not worry about it. Although it agreed to a ceasefire, only seven bodies were returned. Trust was thin and it became even more difficult to repair. In the end, it was the Egyptian army who helped find the bodies of the victims. Do you think the reconstruction will go smoothly?
In fact, the root of all the problems lies in the West Bank, where the Palestinians want to bring the area occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war into their own future country; and the far right of Israel has never given up on the idea of annexation.
This parliamentary vote, although without legal effect, gave Netanyahu's opponents a reason to attack him, and the allies of the Sharia party threatened to withdraw from the coalition government, forcing Netanyahu to move more and more right in security policy.
Settlements in the West Bank are still being built vigorously, and Gaza's future is uncertain. Hamas does not recognize the international trusteeship + Palestinian autonomy that the United States wants, and Arab countries do not buy it.
In the end, Israel’s military presence and Palestinian national demands are basically wrong, as a Gaza doctor said: They built us hospitals but don’t give us land; they trained the police but didn’t allow us autonomy.
If the United States does not want the coordination center to be established, it must force Israel not to engage in unilateralism; the international community wants the reconstruction of Gaza not to become paperwork, and it must have a whole speculative supervisory mechanism.
As for Israel, always addicted to short-term political games, sooner or later have to shed the world’s trust.Seeing the olive trees on the West Bank are pushed down, and the children of Gaza in the ruins are healed, I really hope that this peace is always beyond the far horizon.