While the scenes from Gaza are heart wrenching, isn't it incumbent on those proposing a cease-fire to come up with a plan for the "day after"? Given that there have been a total of 15 cease-fires from the time Israel voluntarily pulled out of Gaza until Oct 7, each broken by Hamas, how do we escape just mowing the same lawn yet again, th…
While the scenes from Gaza are heart wrenching, isn't it incumbent on those proposing a cease-fire to come up with a plan for the "day after"? Given that there have been a total of 15 cease-fires from the time Israel voluntarily pulled out of Gaza until Oct 7, each broken by Hamas, how do we escape just mowing the same lawn yet again, this time just a little shorter?
Who will police the cease fire and distribute the aid? Certainly NOT any of the parties involved in the past. They have proven to be either incompetent or complicit. Or both. Further who will disarm Hamas and the other radicals? Who will run Gaza politically, at least until some civic body is able to stand up? Who provides security for Gazans and Israel, to assure a solution is permanent?
These are not simple problems, but ones which must be defined and resolved before there's any hope of a permanent cease fire. Otherwise we're just merely exchanging today's dead for tomorrow's.
The UN has had a lot to say about the war as it's unfolded, so why not send in the blue hats for peacekeeping? As for establishing a governing body to rebuild Gaza, that is much, much trickier, mostly because none of the surrounding Muslim countries has expressed a willingness to deal with the refugees much less help with policing and a rebuild, and also because Israel is intransigent regarding a two-state solution. No one can identify any leaders or diplomats on either side who could actually begin good-faith and onsite peace talks. Still, efforts must be made because Israel seems to have checked all the boxes that define genocide.
What's happening is called war, urban war. Not genocide.
The UN is a big reason we're in this situation, and it speaks volumes about the Palestinians that no surrounding Muslim country wants to touch them with a 10-ft pole, with or without incurring any refugees. Israel seems out of "good faith" as its never paid off in the past (the only possible exceptions being peace with Egypt and Jordan)
So basically, there is no plan for the day after. Wonderful.
While the scenes from Gaza are heart wrenching, isn't it incumbent on those proposing a cease-fire to come up with a plan for the "day after"? Given that there have been a total of 15 cease-fires from the time Israel voluntarily pulled out of Gaza until Oct 7, each broken by Hamas, how do we escape just mowing the same lawn yet again, this time just a little shorter?
Who will police the cease fire and distribute the aid? Certainly NOT any of the parties involved in the past. They have proven to be either incompetent or complicit. Or both. Further who will disarm Hamas and the other radicals? Who will run Gaza politically, at least until some civic body is able to stand up? Who provides security for Gazans and Israel, to assure a solution is permanent?
These are not simple problems, but ones which must be defined and resolved before there's any hope of a permanent cease fire. Otherwise we're just merely exchanging today's dead for tomorrow's.
The UN has had a lot to say about the war as it's unfolded, so why not send in the blue hats for peacekeeping? As for establishing a governing body to rebuild Gaza, that is much, much trickier, mostly because none of the surrounding Muslim countries has expressed a willingness to deal with the refugees much less help with policing and a rebuild, and also because Israel is intransigent regarding a two-state solution. No one can identify any leaders or diplomats on either side who could actually begin good-faith and onsite peace talks. Still, efforts must be made because Israel seems to have checked all the boxes that define genocide.
What's happening is called war, urban war. Not genocide.
The UN is a big reason we're in this situation, and it speaks volumes about the Palestinians that no surrounding Muslim country wants to touch them with a 10-ft pole, with or without incurring any refugees. Israel seems out of "good faith" as its never paid off in the past (the only possible exceptions being peace with Egypt and Jordan)
So basically, there is no plan for the day after. Wonderful.