Why is a ceasefire in Gaza so contentious? | About That

a ceasefire is in essence a formal agreement to stop fighting from the air on the ground it all ends at least for some period of time but it's also more than that a ceasefire marks the start of negotiations in good faith for a path to peace it is heavily symbolic and that is a big part of what makes a ceasefire so contentious let's start with is is stance calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas to surrender to terrorism to surrender to barbarism that will not happen for Israel the very idea of a ceasefire is a non-starter and not even worth considering unless Hamas were to release all 239 Israeli hostages first but at least for now Hamas does not seem willing to give up that much Leverage you have one side in this case Hamas which said which doesn't recognize Israel's right to live in peace and security on on the other hand Israel that um doesn't recognize um Hamas as a legitimate player views it exclusively as a terrorist organization and acts in order to protect itself and its citizens now if you've been thinking but there have been Israel Hamas fires before well yeah you're totally right in 2009 in 2012 in 2014 as recently as 2021 Biden's National Security adviser brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East when tensions were flaring this morning they're swapping air strikes and Rockets for fireworks that is Hamas and Israel agreed overnight to what Hamas confirmed was a mutual and simultaneous ceasefire agreement but in 2023 things are different after hamas's deadly attack on October 7th killing 12200 Israelis and capturing hundreds more a deadly strike against Israel sense of security Israel refused to engage with Hamas on any kind of diplomatic level it's not hyperboy to say that this time is very different from previous times because October 7 is very different qualitatively for Israelis their willingness to take casualties and to pay price for that for achieving that objective is much higher which makes a ceasefire much less likely and consider the point of view of someone who's actually negotiated a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas people who are calling for a ceasefire now do not understand Hamas that is not possible it would be such a gift to Hamas because they would spend whatever time there was a ceasefire in effect rebuilding their uh armaments and that's the American position right now which is in line with Israel's that Hamas can't be trusted that if the goal is twofold destroy Hamas and destroy everything it has all ability to mount another attack then any pause in the fighting risks giving Hamas an opportunity to regroup or bounce back and you don't have to take my word for it just a few days ago a senior Hamas official said that it was their intent to do October 7th again and again and again no Nation none of us can accept that and what the US thinks matters greatly to Israel one because money the US provides billions of dollars in Military Support to Israel every year 260 billion since the end of the second world war from Israel's perspective about 16% of its Total Defense budget comes from the United States at least before this conflict they were receiving somewhere in the vicinity of $4 billion US a year in milit military assistance and of course the the links between Israel and the United States are are well known and and well established so when the United States speaks Israel listens but so does the rest of the world certainly other Western allies including Canada who have so far been in lock step reasserting again and again Israel's right to defend itself some avoid the word ceasefire altogether others like the UK have voted to oppose it so the nose have it the nose have it our position as a government is clear on this it's right that Israel is able to defend itself and that principle is one which we support instead most allies are calling for a pause which maybe sounds like a distinction without a difference right but remember what a ceasefire is two parties negotiating with each other at the same table with the goal of reaching an end to the fighting a pause doesn't carry that symbolic weight and it would have two very specific goals getting Aid in and getting hostages out I think that's what is acceptable to Israel and therefore for the moment that is what is acceptable to their Western allies but don't write off a ceasefire just yet there are signs that cracks in the alliance are beginning to form French president Emanuel macron has become the first G7 leader calling for a ceasefire in Gaza I think this is the only solution we have this ceasefire because it's impossible to explain we want to fight against terrorism by killing innocent people when asked if he wants other G7 leaders to join his calls for a ceasefire macron replied I hope they will since the start of this war the calls for a ceasefire have been getting louder Charities like Doctors Without Borders Oxfam and Amnesty International were some of the first to speak out and over the past few weeks a number of international groups have joined in including un agencies the World Health Organization even the pope Pope Francis calls for a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza he urged to authorities from both countries to quote stop in the name of God and to seek a peaceful resolution protests and rallies all over Toronto London Paris Chicago Los Angeles Santiago Jakarta they've also been growing hundreds of thousands of people in some places demanding an end to the [Music] violence what do we want what do we want us in Canada public opinion appears to be sliding heavily towards a ceasefire an Angus Reed poll conducted earlier this month suggests a majority 65% of Canadians support either a full or temporary ceasefire and an ipsos poll conducted online this week suggests a similar finding in the US with 68% of respondents saying that Israel should call a ceasefire and try to negotiate and all of that concern is increasingly being directed not just at Israel's prime minister but also at other world leaders to change their stance there's clearly a sense now that yes the Hamas attack was wrong but things have Kore out of control the more the the war goes on the more the opinions of the rest of the world which are actively condemning the war will'll begin I think to color opinion here this week in Canada MP's offices have been vandalized and surrounded by protesters calling for a ceasefire hundreds of protesters confronted prime minister Justin Trudeau at a Vancouver restaurant 100 police officers were deployed to deal with the protests some 250 protesters gathered outside the Vancouver restaurant he was in then within it call for fire to die you have blood on your and while Trudeau continues to avoid the word ceasefire he has grown more and more critical of Israel I urge the government of Israel to exercise maximum restraint the world is witnessing this the killing of women and children of babies this has to stop and remember that UK ceasefire vote the one where most MPS 290 to be exact voted against it well more than a third 183 voted for it and several in the labor party actually quit their posts over it these are the 11 Shadow ministers and AIDS who voted for a ceasefire anyway and have to resign their posts one of them told me MPS were feeling intense pressure know that I've had a very reflective and very supportive of an immediate ceasefire but here's the thing even if every single country called for a ceasefire there's only one that matters more than all the others with regard to uh when is this going to stop I think it's going to stop when the uh when Hamas no longer maintains the capacity to murder and abuse and and uh and just do a horrific things to uh the Israelis the only nation that can influence Israel is the United States of America everybody else is background noise well there will be no uh ceasefire General ceasefire in Gaza without the release of our hostages certainly for Israel a ceasefire means more or less an end um to the war and they cannot they they cannot agree to that without the release of all the um hostages that were kidnapped what they can do is agree to a cation of hostilities or a ceasefire that is limited in time there are multiple reports that ker is in talks right now with Israel Hamas and the US to negotiate the release of 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for a 3-day truce and this week the US president seemed to acknowledge Israel has agreed in theory to some sort of pause I think the pause and the that Israel that the Israelis have agreed to it's down to I'm getting too much detail I know Mr secretary I'm going to stop the uh but I am I am mildly hopeful I'm mildly hopeful just don't call it a [Music] ceasefire

Channel: CBC News

Views: 41,738

Keywords: ceasefire, humanitarian pause, humanitarian crisis, gaza, northern gaza, southern corridor, rafah border, hamas, idf, israel, netanyahu, biden, blinken, trudeau, white house, ground war, aerial strike, hostages, negotiations, diplomacy, politics, united states, canada, middle east, united nations, cbc, cbc news, cbc explore, exploreapp, andrew chang

Id: y8T5EG_cNFM

Length: 11min 21sec (681 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 17 2023