Diya Upreti, Jadetimes Staff
Diya Upreti is a Jadetimes news reporter covering Isreal-Gaza war News
Ceasefire Challenges and Peace Efforts: What makes a lasting peace so challenging?
In any war, working out the difficult-to-untangle historical, social, and political strands usually proves to be almost impossible for achieving lasting peace. One of the most complicated places of peacemaking recently has been the conflict between Israel and Gaza. Ceasefire agreements could be considered as only a temporary measure than the permanent solution for bringing about peace.
One of the biggest challenges facing lasting peace is the fundamental mistrust between parties to a conflict. For over half a century, Israelis and Palestinians have been witnessing cycles of violence, displacement, and blockade, thereby creating deep-seated grievances. These historical grievances add to the current security-related issues, making it extremely difficult for either party to commit fully to peace resulting on conflict. Both parties fear that giving in will expose them to security threats and therefore repeat the cycle, where the temporary ceasefires become just brief interludes before the hostilities resume.
The second significant hindrance lies in the political influence involved both in Israel and in Gaza. In Gaza, Hamas exercises political power whose interest is different from the one that the Palestinian Authority holds in the West Bank. The internal division, thus, among Palestine leadership is one of the complexions in negotiating peace inasmuch as such consolidation of unity is hard to come by within the head of state. In addition, in Israel, there exists politics at the higher governmental levels, which change rather radically with the change in the politicians who lead that state, thereby further removing any peace-making guarantee.
The matter becomes even more complex by the involvement of international players. It can often be observed that it is almost a compulsion for a country like the US to act as an intermediary in the quest for peace. However, it can sometimes be perceived as biased and agenda-driven at other times, and no peace initiative seems to promote confidence building. Regional actors, too, such as Iran in support of Hamas, or Egypt, frequently playing a role in securing a truce, enter into their own interest agenda. Such overlapping agendas also increase the complexity of laying a framework for peace which all stakeholders can consider equitable and reliable.
Last, a non-developed economy in Gaza does not afford any opportunity for peace. High unemployment rates, scarce resources, and therefore frustration and despair are evident, and this makes the society even more vulnerable to conflict. The economic development can be said to be the foundation for a peaceful situation, but it will only be sustained if continued investments and international cooperation continue.
Hence, the pursuit of lasting peace and stability is complicated by mistrust, political division, external influences, and economic instability. For the peace efforts to be effective, they have to fulfill both the immediate need of securing things and more broadly the long-term socio-economic needs, all clearly contributing towards total trust and unity among all stakeholders.
