Mohamed Elmaki Ahmed:
Amid emotional and influential days, some Israeli, and Palestinian civilian hostages returned home.
The exchange included children, women, and teenagers. Some of those Palestinians were imprisoned in Israel for months and years.
Nevertheless, the poignant and painful humanitarian scene from both sides raises many hot questions.
What are the next steps, and the new challenges on the tables of the US, Israeli, and Palestinian leaders to stop escalation of hostilities?
The temporary humanitarian pause deal, which was guided by US President Biden, in partnership with Qatar, Egypt, and Israel, is a positive step.
Without the great American pressures, the mediators could not have achieved any truce, or have extended it. However, Qatar played a vital and successful role.
This Impressive success added a new bright chapter to its record, as a trusted mediator, in the field of humanitarian initiatives.
The overall scene showed the Western leaders’ immediate reactions against the surprise and unexpected attack of Hamas inside Israel, on 7th October 2023.
They called for the immediate release of the civilian hostages.
The West leaders announced also their complete support to Israel to defend its security.
This support is expected. All countries in the world have the right to defend their security and protect civilians.
But this position must include the Palestinian people, as human beings, who have been struggling for many decades, to get rid of the last occupation in this era.
The massive Israeli assault on the Gaza strip killed thousands of civilians, including women, and children putting Western leaders, especially in the US and the UK under intense pressure from an angry public opinion.
The world has witnessed thousands of peaceful demonstrators on the streets of London, Washington, Paris, and other capitals.
Arabs, Africans, Asians, Jews, Christians, and others have joined the demonstrations.
Until now, they have demanded a ceasefire, shouting to stop the war, supporting Palestine’s human rights, and raising the Palestinian flags.
They are supporting the Palestinians’ rights, to live in peace, and with dignity, like all peoples in the world.
The pro-Palestinian demonstrations indicate the increasing support for Palestinian human rights, in the international public opinion.
That support has put the Western leaders, political parties, and the Human Rights Organizations, under heavy, and growing pressure now.
Accordingly, the continuous interactions between the Western demonstrations, and the Palestinian cause will be one of the hottest agendas that influence the results of the next general elections, especially in the US ,and the UK.
Shifts in the attitudes of international public opinion indicate whether the main parties respect diversity, and the rule of international law.
moreover, the public opinion pressure on President Biden, and other leaders in the Western countries includes a question: will they support the UN resolutions over the Palestinian cause, or continue using the vetoes in the Security Council against the will of most countries in the international community?
Western leaders must provide practical, not verbal, support to UN Resolutions.
The role needed from Western leaders is to support the two-state solution, the Palestinian state and an Israeli state.
This is the best option, to end the cycles of killing civilians, violence, and counter–violence.
This option is supported by Arab states, and many countries in the world, including Western countries.
This means the release of hostages and prisoners will not solve a historic crisis.
The Israeli hostages and the Palestinian prisoners are victims of the no-solution atmosphere.
The climate of tension, abduction of civilians, and bloodshed need a comprehensive peace solution, to move the Middle East from a death zone and land of growing worries to an area of peace, democracy, development, cooperation, and human rights.
The war in Gaza Strip or the West Bank won’t lead to stability. Negotiations only could build the gateway of peace.
Some hostages and prisoners were released by indirect talks between Israel and Hamas through Qatar, Egypt, and the US.
The visit of the CIA director and the Mossad chief to Qatar to discuss the extension of the humanitarian pause and other issues was a new development. It is also an indication of what could happen in the future.
This is a new lesson that must be learned from Western leaders, at the forefront of which stands the US Administration, to create credibility amidst anger in local and international public opinion which could change the governments in the democratic countries.
لقراء العربية:
تتفاعل هذه الأيام أكثر من أي وقت مضى أزمة الحرب الاسرائيلية على غزة وقضية الأسرى الاسرائيليين والفلسطينيين، خصوصا بعد لقاء باريس أمس الذي شاركت فيه أميركا ومصر وقطر واسرائيل ، وقد جاءت تصريحات رئيس الوزارء وزير الخارجية القطري الشيخ محمد بن عبد آلرحمن آل ثاني التي أشار فيها إلى احراز تقدم بشأن التوصل الى صفقة بين إسرائيل وحماس في هذا الشأن لتؤشر مجددا الى الضغوط المتنامية التي يواجهها قادة دول غربية وخصوصا أميركا واسرائيل في هذا الاطار .
كتبت الشهر الماضي مقالة بالإنكليزية وانشرها اليوم هنا،وهي عن الضغوط التي تواجه قادة غربيين بشأن موضوع الأسرى والحرب في غزة ومقالات أخرى في اطار مشاركتي في دورة نظمها (NUJ ) اتحاد الصحافيين في بريطانيا National Union Of Journalists.
اعتقد بأن مخاطبة قراء الإنكليزية في الدول الغربية والعالم مهمة لتوسيع دائرة الانتشار والمساهمة في نشر الرأي الآخر الداعم لقضايا عادلة وبينها قضية الشعب الفلسطيني المظلوم و قضايا الحرية والعدالة والسلام ويشمل ذلك السودان .
