Pressure to turn the Gaza truce into a ceasefire.. What is the difference?

After the announcement of the temporary truce agreement between Israel and Hamas for a period of four days, international and regional voices rose to demand a comprehensive ceasefire in the war that has been ongoing since October 7 in Gaza. What is the difference between the two terms?

cease-fire

While there is no specific or generally recognized legal definition of the term “ceasefire,” the United Nations website defines it as “the suspension of fighting by agreement between the parties to the conflict, and is usually part of a political process.”

According to the same source, the purpose of the ceasefire remains “to be long-term and cover the entire geographical area of ​​the conflict, allowing the parties to enter into dialogue and the possibility of reaching a permanent political settlement.”

The Practical Dictionary of Humanitarian Law prepared by humanitarian organizations indicates that a ceasefire is an agreement to “cease all military activities for a specified period of time.”

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, a ceasefire “essentially represents a truce, or temporary suspension of war, rather than a final agreement to end the fighting, although it may sometimes lead to lasting peace.”

A ceasefire can be declared unilaterally, negotiated between the various parties to the conflict, reached through mediation, or can be imposed by a Security Council resolution, under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.

Ceasefire periods can also be declared as “a cover by the warring groups to remobilize, arm, and maneuver,” and its agreements are “verbal or written, with conditions that are either public or secret,” according to the “Balgharib” Encyclopedia of Global Security Studies.

The ceasefire shall be general and include the entire conflict zone and all active parties therein. It may also be a specific ceasefire and include specific locations, and may be adopted for strategic military or humanitarian purposes, according to the encyclopedia.

From this standpoint, the main goal of the ceasefire remains more comprehensive than delivering aid, and it may contribute to paving the way for broad military and political arrangements, which may include, for example, commitments to stop escalation, the possibility of withdrawing weapons and repositioning forces, with the ultimate goal of reaching a final settlement of the conflict.

Humanitarian truce

On the other hand, the primary goal of the humanitarian truce is to temporarily stop hostilities for “purely humanitarian purposes,” according to the UN website.

A humanitarian truce is usually temporary for “a specific period and geographical area during which humanitarian intervention takes place, in order to facilitate the provision of various assistance to civilians affected by the conflict, medical care and relief.”

Grant Rumley, a former Pentagon official who now works at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said, “A humanitarian truce is the cessation or mitigation of a conflict for a short period of time,” and focuses on delivering aid to a specific area.

On the other hand, the ceasefire remains “more formal,” according to the same spokesman, and is usually the result of negotiations sponsored or facilitated by a third party, and can continue indefinitely as long as both parties to the conflict adhere to it.

In many cases of global conflict, a humanitarian truce is also “an initial step towards achieving a ceasefire or final settlement of the conflict.”

Will the war continue?

Israeli government spokesman, Ofir Gendelman, said on Wednesday that Israeli military successes in Gaza prompted Hamas to yield to pressure and to a deal to exchange its abductees for Palestinian prisoners.

Gendelman added, in an interview with Al-Hurra TV, that one of the goals of the war is the release of the kidnapped people, stressing that the truce will not stop the war, but rather will continue until Hamas is eliminated.

He pointed out that “planes will stop flying over the Gaza Strip for only 4 hours a day during the days of the truce, and they will continue to collect intelligence information.”

He continued that Israel does not rely only on drones, but also has satellites and other devices for monitoring and gathering intelligence information, stressing that the truce will not benefit Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel’s broader mission has not changed.

He added, “We are in a state of war and we will continue the war until we achieve all our goals. Destroying Hamas, returning all the hostages, and ensuring that no entity in Gaza is able to threaten Israel.”

Hamas said in its statement, “While we announce the arrival of a truce agreement, we confirm that our hands will remain on the trigger.”

The war broke out between Israel and Hamas after a surprise attack launched by the movement on military sites and residential areas adjacent to the Gaza Strip, which led to the killing of 1,200 people, most of them civilians, including women and children, and 239 people were kidnapped, according to the Israeli authorities.

Since then, Israel has responded with intense air, sea and ground bombardment on the besieged Gaza Strip, followed by a ground operation that is still ongoing. The death toll in Gaza has reached more than 14 thousand people, the majority of whom are women and children, in addition to the injury of more than 33 thousand people, in addition to Thousands of people are missing under the rubble, according to what the government media office in Gaza announced on Tuesday.

International welcome to the “truce”

The United States, the European Union, Russia, China, Britain, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other countries welcomed the agreement, which stipulates a four-day cessation of fighting, to allow the release of kidnapped persons held by Hamas, in exchange for the release of Palestinians in Israeli prisons, as well as the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations confirmed in a statement that António Guterres “welcomes the agreement concluded between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Qatar and with the support of Egypt and the United States,” adding, “This is an important step in the right direction,” but “much still needs to be done.”

In turn, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, welcomed the agreement and stressed that this is “not enough to put an end to the suffering of civilians.”

He called for the release of all abductees while at the same time caring for those still in captivity. He renewed his call for a “ceasefire” to effectively help the residents of Gaza.

Turkey expressed its hope that the agreement would contribute to ending the conflict completely, and the Turkish Foreign Ministry described it as a “positive development,” and said: “We expect full commitment to the agreement and hope that it will help reach a permanent solution to the conflict.”

On Wednesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi welcomed the truce agreement that was brokered by Egyptian, Qatari and American mediation about a month and a half after the start of the raging war between the two sides.

A statement issued by the Egyptian presidency stated, “I express my welcome (…) in reaching an agreement,” stressing the continuation of efforts “in order to reach final solutions.”

On Wednesday, Jordan expressed its hope that the humanitarian truce in Gaza would be a step towards ending the war and stopping the targeting of Palestinians and their forced displacement.

A statement by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “The UAE welcomed the announcement of a truce in Gaza and expressed its hope for a permanent ceasefire, stressing the need to return to negotiations to achieve a two-state solution and establish an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

While the Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, said that the ceasefire in Gaza is a step in the right direction and there is a need for a complete cessation of fighting, adding that aid to Gaza should not be used as a means of collective punishment.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the humanitarian agreement reached on Wednesday, calling for broader solutions to the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The administration of US President Joe Biden and other international parties calls for the adoption of “humanitarian truces” that allow the arrival of aid and the release of kidnapped foreigners held by Hamas, in exchange for appeals from relief organizations, UN officials, and other countries for a “ceasefire.”

The terms “ceasefire” and “humanitarian truce” intersect at the point of calling for the suspension of hostilities, and there are major differences between them, both at the level of the mechanisms, duration and objectives of this cessation, as well as the determinants of its use in cases of war and armed conflict.