The 3 words missing from the ceasefire deal needed to make it a success | Opinion

Let's be clear. Israel needed a ceasefire agreement for Gaza, and it would be better off with an imperfect deal than none at all. First of all, it has emerged as the only way to bring back the remaining 98 hostages, who have been wilting and suffering in Hamas captivity for over 15 months. Attempts to release them through military operations proved largely unsuccessful, and each passing minute diminishes their chances of returning home alive.

Second, the costs of the ongoing war on Israeli society and its military have become unbearable. As the war went on, internal division exacerbated, and the human cost on the part of Israel's military only made things worse. With one in five IDF soldiers killed in Gaza due to operational accidents, prolonging the war meant further unnecessary deaths of Israelis.

Add to that the moral weight of the unprecedented death and destruction caused to Gaza and its people, along with increasing international isolation of Israel, whether by withholding arms or legal action against its soldiers abroad, the continuation of the war has become unsustainable.

Israel's successes

But what does Israel actually achieve through this deal besides returning its hostages home and ending their ongoing suffering and life-threatening captivity? While it is a worthy and crucial goal, the sad answer is not much else. 

Clearly, Hamas is trying to frame the death and destruction of historic proportions it brought upon Gaza, the result of its barbaric and genocidal attack on Israel last October, as a victory. What more would you expect from Jihadist fanatics? 

Their main talking points are that Israel failed to conquer the Gaza Strip and expel its people. That's irrelevant, as Israel never intended to do any of those things. Militarily, Israel successfully dismantled Hamas' semi-army structure and destroyed its effective command-and-control structure. 

But as outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed this week, Hamas has managed to recruit a similar number of fighters to that which it lost, proving that the security threat to Israel, albeit reduced, has not been removed.

Israel's failures

However, Hamas' claims that Israel was unable to destroy their civil rule over Gaza, failed to free the hostages through military force, or prevent them from remaining in power in Gaza after the war are sadly true. 

That is the biggest failure of Israel in this war, which is evident in the agreed-upon ceasefire, reached through American, Qatari, and Egyptian mediation. And it's the result of three crucial words missing from the deal that would have changed everything: The Palestinian Authority.

In the absence of an alternative rule for post-war Gaza, it was clear from day one that Hamas would remain the ruling force in the Strip. Israel's allies and supporters have been warning of this outcome for months, but sadly its leaders failed to listen.

And don't get me wrong. The Palestinian Authority is far from the ideal ruler of the Palestinian people. For decades it has educated its children through a curriculum riddled with incitement against Israelis and Jews, its pay-for-slay policy makes it impossible for Israelis to view them as a feasible partner, and the list goes on.

But looking at the terms of the current deal, it is hard to see how it is fundamentally different from any other ceasefire agreement Israel and Hamas have reached following numerous rounds of fighting and escalations over the years. Hamas attacks Israel, Israel destroys Gaza, and both sides live to see another day. That is the outcome of this current deal too.

A new day in region – with Hamas still here

Ironically, the aftermath of the October 7th attacks has brought upon tectonic shifts in the Middle East that are all to the benefit of Israel. Hezbollah is at its lowest point in 30 years and its chokehold over Lebanon is swiftly easing. Syria has been freed from decades of a brutal Assad regime and no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel as part of the Iranian axis. Iraq is dismantling its Iranian militias and Tehran's "ring of fire" around Israel through its proxies has been extinguished.

With Hamas remaining in power in Gaza, its ranks refilled and its underground infrastructure largely intact, and its eliminated leadership soon to be replaced by a new cadre of leaders who will be released from Israeli prisons, nothing ensures that Hamas won't continue to pose a threat to Israel in the years to come.

But not all is lost. Under the agreement, negotiations over the "day after" in Gaza are set to begin on the 16th day of the ceasefire. This provides an opening to include the Palestinian Authority in managing Gaza in a way that reduces or even eliminates Hamas' effective governance over the Strip. "It will not be acceptable for any entity to govern the Gaza Strip but the legitimate Palestinian leadership and the government of the state of Palestine," Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said on Wednesday. Ramallah is begging to be involved. It's up to Israel to decide whether it is willing to listen.

It's time Israel realizes the new emerging reality in the region and takes steps to ensure it doesn't miss out on the opportunities it can bring to its own future with regard to the threat from Gaza and the West Bank. As long as it continues to accept Hamas' rule in Gaza, Israel cannot ensure that it won't continue to threaten its safety and hinder its chances for regional integration. Israel needs to wise up before it's too late.