analysis
The ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war is welcome, but the world needs to find a way to stop the conflict from reigniting
A ceasefire — but a Band-Aid also.
Donald Trump says on social media this is an "EPIC" ceasefire deal. So big that he put epic in capital letters.
It is nothing of the sort.
In the short-term, the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war is of course welcome.
Relatives and friends of people killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza celebrate the ceasefire deal. (AP: Ohad Zwigenberg)
The remaining 98 hostages, taken by Hamas in the October 7 atrocities, will be returned to their families.
Tragically, many of these are believed to have died while in Gaza.
On the Palestinian side, it will be a welcome relief after 15 months of one of the most heavy bombings of a densely populated area in modern times.
Gaza is now a humanitarian catastrophe and its rebuilding could take a generation.
As welcome as a ceasefire is, the world should not celebrate for long.
Loading...Two-state solution needed
In the broader sweep of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this is yet another Band-Aid on a badly bleeding patient.
The world needs to finally be serious about trying to find a solution to this decades-old conflict.
As bruised and damaged as the model of a two-state solution is, it remains the only viable solution to avoid more and even worse violence in years to come.
Australia was one of the leaders pushing for a two-state solution in 1947 and officially Australia remains committed to such.
Loading...Many Israelis and Palestinians object to a two-state solution.
The current Israeli government is implacably opposed to the Palestinians ever having their own state.
And many Palestinians do not want a two-state solution: they believe that every person in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza should have an equal vote and that whoever has the majority forms the government.
The one country — the death of the two-states of Israel and (potentially) Palestine.
This would mean the end of Israel as a Jewish state.
Israel is not going anywhere, so this simply will not happen.
It is therefore giving false hope to Palestinians to suggest it may.
In Tel Aviv, the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza welcomed the news of the ceasefire agreement. (ABC News: Haidarr Jones)
Nor are the Palestinians going anywhere, despite many in Israel, including in the government, wishing they could take the land currently lived in by Palestinians.
The tragedy of this conflict is highlighted by the fact that both the Israeli government and hardline Palestinians are in agreement opposing a two-state solution.
Violence will resume without political solution
Since the Hamas attack on October 7 and the subsequent war, there has been a renewed interest by the US, the European Union and Australia in a two-state solution.
In Australia, most governments have supported a two-state solution.
Former prime minister John Howard was spot on when he said in 2006: "Australians want the fighting to stop and wants everybody to address the root cause of the problem, and the root cause of the problem is still, in the whole of the Middle East, is still the settlement of the Palestinian issue."
Palestinians responded to the news with jubilation, but things could deteriorate again without a firm political solution. (AP: Abdel Kareem Hana)
But Israel is led by Benjamin Netanyahu, who has through his career made clear his determination that the Palestinians will never have their own state.
He was once even secretly filmed boasting that he had sabotaged the Oslo peace process by misleading the Americans.
Donald Trump may call this epic, but unless the world pushes for a political solution based on equal rights for Palestinians rather than a military solution of occupation this will merely be a pause before more killing.