Why should Gaza interest anyone when Israelis aren’t being killed? When the blare of sirens dies down in Israel, that’s considered a cease-fire
Gideon Levy, Haaretz,
18/1/2026
When Israelis aren’t being killed there’s a cease-fire. When Israelis aren’t being killed but over 400 in Gaza are, including 100 children, that too is called a cease-fire. When Israel demolishes 2,500 houses in Gaza in the middle of a cease-fire, and Defense Minister Israel Katz praises IDF soldiers for their operations, that is still called a cease-fire.
When hundreds of thousands of Gazans are freezing to
death and wallowing in mud, that comes under the definition of a cease-fire.
When thousands of seriously ill people are dying
because Israel denies them life-saving medical attention or the possibility of
leaving their cages and going elsewhere for treatment, this a cease-fire. When
an educated Israeli woman asks during a Sabbath meal whether there are still
Israeli soldiers in Gaza at a time when over one half of the enclave is occupied by the IDF, that is a quintessential indicator of the existence of a cease-fire,
at least as Israelis define it.
When life in Israel returns to normal, with cooking
and song contests in full swing, and with in- depth discussions of the fateful
issue of the leak to Bild magazine in Germany, that is the be-all and end-all of cease-fires. Only when a Hamas squad
emerges from its hole and tries to plant an improvised explosive device in the
rubble of Gaza, that is a grievous infraction of the cease-fire.
When Israelis aren’t being killed, all the rest is of
no interest. Why should Gaza interest anyone when Israelis aren’t being killed?
When the blare of sirens dies down in Israel, that is a cease-fire. The fact
that Gaza is still being bombed, but lacks sirens, is irrelevant. The world too
is already showing signs of weariness with regard to Gaza, despite this weekend’s
news of the establishment of a "Board of
Peace," which will not save a
single dispossessed person in Gaza from their bitter fate.
When Israelis are not being killed, a return to
routine is declared, meaning that the war is over and that one can return to
the victimhood stance of October 7, to the endless retelling of the stories of
the hostages, to getting mired down in yesterday’s grief, being stunned every
time there is a desperate attempt from Gaza to remind people of its existence.
When Israelis aren’t being killed, Gaza doesn’t exist, nor does the entire
Palestinian problem.
When Israelis aren’t being killed, everything is good.
When they aren’t being killed one can resume denying and forgetting Gaza. When
Israelis aren’t getting killed in the West Bank, life is even more wonderful.
The fact that dozens of Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since
the cease-fire took effect is even less interesting than the hundreds of Gazans
killed in the same period.
News of the existence of a cease-fire in Gaza has not
reached the West Bank or the IDF’s Central Command. All the draconian
restrictions imposed in the West Bank at the beginning of the war in Gaza
remain in place, not one of them having been rescinded or eased.
If those restrictions were imposed because of the war,
why weren’t they lifted when the war ended? Nine hundred roadblocks set up
during the war? Nine hundred roadblocks remain after the cease-fire took
effect. Iron gates at every Palestinian community, opening and closing
intermittently since the war began? The same thing continues after the war
ended. Pogroms during the war? Even more so after it ended. When Israelis are
not being killed, there’s no problem.
The decision to impose on Israel the signing of a
cease-fire agreement turned out to be the deal of the year. This is the first
one-sided cease-fire in history. Israel is permitted anything while the other
side is not allowed to breathe. All the hostages were returned except for one
body, and the promise to evacuate Gaza once the hostages were returned
evaporated instantly, forgotten as if it were never made. Remember? The
hostages were returned, and Israel is in Gaza, since then and forever.
The cease-fire also subdued the world outcry against
Israel. Some in the world waited for an opportunity to return and embrace
Israel, and a unilateral cease-fire is that opportunity. The world has moved on
to Venezuela and Iran.
Trump can continue disseminating his idea of the
invented peace he brought to the Middle East, and Israelis can continue telling
themselves that the war in Gaza was justified and achieved all its objectives.
Now it’s over. There is a cease-fire. The main thing is that Israelis are not
getting killed in Gaza. All
the rest is of no interest.
