At the surface level, a ceasefire is a good thing. It would allow the return of some, if not all, of the hostages still alive held by Hamas nearly a year after they were brutally kidnapped. It would end the death and destruction on both sides and allow rebuilding of lives and infrastructure.
But the issue that is preventing Hamas from agreeing to the ceasefire it so desperately needs demonstrates the danger that an ill-conceived ceasefire will only lead to more war and death in the future.
Israel is insisting that the IDF remain stationed at the Philadelphi Corridor on the border between Gaza and Egypt, while Hamas is demanding a complete IDF withdrawal. At stake is the question of whether Hamas will be allowed to rearm and rebuild so that it can carry out its threats to commit more massacres like the one it committed on October 7, 2023. READ MORE
