Statement of the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT), jointly issued by the Internationalist Socialist League (RCIT Section in Israel/Occupied Palestine) and the International Bureau of the RCIT, 11.06.2024, https://the-isleague.com/ and www.thecommunists.net
The US, which until very recently rejected any resolution in the UN Security Council (UNSC) calling to end the war, has submitted a resolution that, according to the White House, will end the war. This resolution was adopted at a UNSC meeting yesterday. It is both a chance and a trap.
The American plan has three phases. During the first phase, which would last six weeks, there would be an “immediate, full, and complete ceasefire with the release of hostages including women, the elderly and the wounded, the return of the remains of some hostages who have been killed.” There would be an exchange of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails as well as the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the populated areas in Gaza and the return of Palestinian civilians to their homes and neighbourhoods in all areas of Gaza, including in the north.
During the second phase, there would be “upon agreement of the parties, a permanent end to hostilities, in exchange for the release of all other hostages still in Gaza, and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.”
Phase 3, according to the resolution, would see “the start of a major multi-year reconstruction plan for Gaza and the return of the remains of any deceased hostages still in Gaza to their families.”
The negotiations in the course of the first phase may allow the Zionist state to reject the second phase and renew the war after it got a large number of Zionist captives in Gaza. In this phase, the opposition to the continuation of the war should apply maximum pressure on Israel not to restart the war.
The worst part of this resolution is its real aim, an “unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution where two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders, consistent with international law and relevant UN resolutions, and in this regard stresses the importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority.”
This would mean to impose the corrupted PA of Abbas – who are servants of the Zionist state and the U.S. – on the Palestinian people. Having said this, it is also clear that a two-state solution is a rather long-term danger since currently Israel would never accept such an agreement.
We do not know, of course, whether Hamas will be able to resist the pressure to accept an implementation of this resolution which would serve the imperialist control of the region and save Israel from itself. Likewise, it remains to be seen how much of such a resolution can be implemented or if another war (e.g. in the North against Hezbollah) will disrupt Washington’s plans. In fact, there is a realistic possibility that Netanyahu will torpedo the ceasefire by any means necessary since he is now even more dependent on the extreme right-winger parties in his government after Gantz left the coalition.
So far, the Palestinian resistance has withstood the pressure, but who knows after eight months of massacres by the Zionists – backed by the Western imperialists. At the time of writing, Hamas has just announced that they basically agree with the UNSC resolution and want to enter indirect negotiations over the implementation of the principles of the agreement.
It will depend on the concrete negotiations what will be the exact terms of such a ceasefire. In any case, we will not blame Hamas for any concessions to the Zionist state but the imperialists and the local Arab rulers who sat on their hands instead of joining the war on the side of the Palestinians. We will also blame the reformists and liberals social democratic, Stalinist and left-populist parties, including the Stalinist Hadash in Israel.
The Revolutionary Communist International Tendency and the Internationalist Socialist League (RCIT Section in Israel/Occupied Palestine) reiterate their support for the liberation struggle of the Palestinian people. We support the end of the war as it will end the genocide and it will be a victory for the Palestinian resistance as it heroically withstood the fourth-largest army in the world.
We call the global pro-Palestine solidarity movement, trade unions and popular organizations to redouble their activities against the Israeli Apartheid and Terror state and to build pressure for a ceasefire deal which is most favourable for the Palestinians and most unfavourable for the Zionist Monster.
For a Free and Red Palestine – from the River to the Sea!