The visiting leading expert of the Foreign Policy Institute lists three reasons why the armistice agreement came about right now.
– Finally some positive news from the Middle East. I am cautiously hopeful that this agreement will hold, says the Foreign Policy Institute’s Visiting Leading Expert Olli Ruohomäki.
Ruohomäki commented on the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas on morning.
According to Ruohomäki, there are three background factors behind the armistice agreement that has now been created.
First of all, Ruohomäki noted the efforts of Qatar and Egypt to promote the negotiations.
Secondly, Ruohomäki points out from the statements of the Israeli military leadership that the military goals of Gaza have already been achieved. According to Ruohomäki, it has long been clear that the political and military leadership of the terrorist organization Hamas has already been largely eliminated.
The third background factor is Donald Trump. Trump begins his new presidency next Monday, and this has served as a kind of deadline for the ceasefire agreement.
– Trump threatened that “hell will break loose” if an agreement is not reached, says Ruohomäki.
According to Ruohomäki, the situation in Gaza has already been “absolutely terrible”, but Trump’s speeches still caused pressure that the negotiations had to progress.
What next?
Ruohomäki reminds us that even though the ceasefire is now progressing, big questions must be answered in the Middle East.
– Which entity fills the power vacuum in Gaza? If it is no longer Hamas, is it the Palestinian Authority?
Another thing is the massive reconstruction project in Gaza and the future of the one and a half million inhabitants. In addition, Israelis and Palestinians now have to decide how to organize coexistence in the future.
– So there is a long and rocky road ahead.
However, this does not mean that the creation of the armistice agreement is not worth celebrating.
– This is a positive turn and this is what is needed, because there has been only bad news from the Middle East in recent months and years, says Ruohomäki.