The Zionists Honor No Agreements, Understandings, or Covenants

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

The Zionists honor neither a truce nor an understanding, and this has been their record with the Arabs since 1948. How many times have the Zionists breached the Rhodes armistice lines they agreed upon with the Arabs, how many times have they attacked installations and people, and wrecked crops and water wells? These experiences repeated after 1967, especially after the Palestinian resistance intensified. The Zionists reached understandings with the PLO regarding a ceasefire in South Lebanon, but never once honored them. Recently, an agreement was reached with the Zionists regarding a prisoner exchange between them and Hamas. Hamas fulfilled its obligations, while the Zionists re-arrested a large number of the Palestinians who had been released, and have not yet released the fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners. They also reached an agreement after the 2014 war under which they would allow the construction of an airport and a seaport in Gaza, but never implemented it, continuing to refuse to open the Rafah crossing except for a few days at a time to let off steam.

Media are now speaking of an opportunity to conclude a truce between the resistance in Gaza and the Zionist entity. This talk comes amid circumstances in which the Zionists feel pressured because of the right-of-return marches, and because of the development of the resistance’s military capabilities and its adoption of a new strategy summed up as “bombing for bombing.” This strategy has confused the Zionists, since they can no longer carry out military operations in Gaza without settlers in southern Palestine rushing to shelters. It is noteworthy that the Zionists, in cooperation with the Western colonial powers, are brandishing both the stick and the carrot toward Gaza at the same time. On one hand, Westerners say they are prepared to offer financial aid to Gaza to improve people’s conditions and for reconstruction, and on the other hand, Zionist warplanes deliver painful strikes to Gaza, pushing it toward accepting the Western carrot, at prices, of course, they have not yet disclosed.

It seems Egypt is the one overseeing the arrangements for establishing a long-term truce, whose length we do not yet know. But it is important to note that Egypt has sponsored several understandings and agreements before, yet did nothing in response to Zionist violations of what had been agreed upon. This is why it is necessary to insist on the presence of international bodies capable of issuing rulings against whoever violates what has been agreed upon.

It is noteworthy that the Zionists prefer unwritten agreements, always wanting verbal understandings instead. The reason is that they do not want to be bound, preferring to remain free in their military and security movements. On another note, they do not want to be a party to an agreement with those they claim are terrorists. The Palestinian side, for its part, does not enter into agreements written and signed by the Zionists, because it does not recognize the Zionist entity. In any case, the Palestinian resistance is supposed to change how it deals with the implementation of agreements or understandings, in a way that guarantees the Zionists’ commitment to implementation. States sponsoring an understanding or agreement are also required to commit to taking measures against whoever fails to comply.

The most important point in all this talk of de-escalation concerns the following question: will the Zionists accept a truce that does not restrict the resistance’s military activity? My assessment is that the Zionists will stipulate freezing the resistance’s military situation — meaning stopping arms smuggling, or the smuggling of materials for military manufacturing, and establishing a multilateral committee to monitor the resistance’s military activities, whether in training or organization. The Zionists cannot accept a truce that allows the resistance to continue its military preparations and develop its missile capabilities. The Zionists will stipulate this without the condition being reciprocal — meaning the Zionists themselves remain free to prepare, develop their weapons, and receive military aid from the Western states.

Here lies a great flaw: the Zionists can monitor conditions in Gaza through their advanced technical capabilities and through their agents on the ground, while Gaza possesses no mechanisms to monitor the Zionists. Their alarm bell rings quickly, while Palestinians generally cannot know what is happening on the Zionist side except through world or Zionist media, or through some international non-governmental organizations.

It is not expected that the Palestinian resistance will accept oversight of its military and armament activities, since that would be its death. Oversight means exposing the resistance’s reserves and its special measures regarding the tunnels, and identifying the various types of weapons and missiles now in its possession, and so on. This is why I do not see a truce coming about between the Zionists and the Hamas-led Palestinian resistance. It would be best for the resistance, and for the Palestinian factions generally, not to enter into bargaining over their existence, their capabilities, and the Palestinian cause as a whole. Historically, we are always the losers in bargaining battles. Everyone has a bitter lesson in the PLO, which was ultimately stripped bare without obtaining anything of the fixed national rights of the Palestinian people.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “الصهاينة لا يلتزمون باتفاقيات أو تفاهمات أو مواثيق” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.