Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za
3-minute read  | 3 July 2025 | 13:15 CAT

📸: As Gaza bleeds and ceasefire talks resume again under global pressure but still facing familiar obstacles. (Getty Images)

The latest push for a ceasefire in Gaza has triggered cautious interest globally, but many remain sceptical. While U.S.-backed proposals and Donald Trump’s dramatic intervention aim to broker a 60-day halt in fighting, questions of credibility, imbalance, and long-term vision dominate the discourse.

Middle East expert and political commentator Professor Rami Khoury says the dynamics at play may be new in form, but the substance is achingly familiar. “The only thing really that’s different,” he explains, “is that it comes in the wake of the Israel-U.S. attack against Iran and Iran attacking Israel in return. That’s a dramatic new development.”

However, Khoury is quick to point out that Washington’s stance remains deeply flawed. “This ceasefire proposal is serious in tone but delusional in expectation,” he says, referring to the American assumption that overwhelming military power will force Palestinians and other regional actors into submission. “It’s a complete misreading of human history,” Khoury argues. “Massive power never brought lasting surrender. It only strengthens resistance.”

The United States, he contends, cannot play the role of a mediator. “They are not neutral,” Khoury states plainly. “They are financiers, arms suppliers, and political protectors of the Israeli war machine.” According to him, this imbalance eliminates any moral credibility Washington may hope to have in brokering peace. “You can’t deliver justice with one hand while arming oppression with the other.”

Khoury further notes that the Palestinian resistance often reduced to Hamas in mainstream narratives—is generational and predates modern Israel. “This resistance mentality goes back decades, even before 1948, rooted in the people’s opposition to successive imperial forces,” he says. “It’s not about Hamas alone, it’s about identity, dignity, and sovereignty.”

The offer from the Palestinian side, Khoury emphasizes, has been clear for decades: accept a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders. “We’ve said we can live with a Jewish-majority state in part of historical Palestine. The Arabs have extended this offer repeatedly through the Arab Peace Initiative, Oslo Accords, and others. Israel has never truly reciprocated.”

He warns that unless a just political solution is embraced one rooted in equality, sovereignty, and international law, temporary ceasefires will only delay the inevitable resurgence of resistance.

“History is full of examples; Vietnam, Algeria, Kenya, South Africa,” Khoury concludes. “When imperial powers refuse justice, people resist. If it takes decades or a century, so be it.”

Listen to the full interview on The Daily Round-Up with Moulana Junaid Kharsany and Professor Rami Khoury.