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Despite Israel and Hamas’ separate announcements of a ceasefire in Gaza, prospects for a regional peace ensuring Israeli stability and security are likely to collapse, resulting in the escalation of anti-Israeli militancy and Israel’s increasing isolation.

Israel bypassed an Egyptian-French initiated ceasefire proposal, backed by Saudia Arabia, the EU, the U.S., and Russia, to announce a unilateral ceasefire on Saturday following its three-week offensive aimed at halting Hamas’ rocket attacks against southern Israel.  The ceasefire went into effect by midnight. 

Although Hamas’ Syrian-based exiled leadership declared the fight would continue, by Sunday, they too announced an immediate weeklong ceasefire, in which Hamas would allow Israeli troops to leave Gaza.

The international community has welcomed the ceasefire, yet the ceasefire remains tenuous and is unlikely to provide relief for the region, in particular Israel, for although the Israeli offensive is popular at home, single-handedly reviving the ruling party Kadima’s electoral hopes, it has come at a grave cost: Israel is now further away from achieving a lasting, durable peace in the Middle East than since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

An emergency Arab summit hosted by Qatar in its capital Doha on Friday not only condemned Israeli action, but also produced the first official break in Israeli-Arab relations since the offensive began: Qatar and Mauritania have s... >>>