Whether you think Donald Trump or Joe Biden deserves the credit for pushing Israel and Hamas into a ceasefire deal is largely a sideshow to the main event. As the Tribune Editorial Board astutely observed last week, the most important thing is the substance—15 months after the war in Gaza started, the parties were finally able to come to terms. On Friday, the Israeli security cabinet voted to advance the deal. The larger cabinet is expected to do the same.
To the more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza who have lost their loved ones, homes and livelihoods, the announcement of a ceasefire was the best news they could have received. The same can be said for the families of the hostages in Israel, some of whom will be reunited in a matter of days or weeks.
But this is only half the story. The other half still needs to be written, and it could go one of two ways—peace and rebuilding or a return to conflict. At the risk of throwing cold water on the proceedings, it must be said that while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas agreed to stop the war for six weeks, they still haven’t agreed to stop the war permanently. The relief and celebrations we’re witnessing in Gaza and Israel today could very well descend into more grief.
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