Office of the Independent Blogger

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a truce over Gaza. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it does not appear to have anyone’s full committment to it.

I hope it will succeed. I believe there will be quiet in (Israel’s) south,” Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a speech to philanthropists. But he also said he instructed his military “to prepare for any operation, short or long, that might be necessary” if the truce breaks down.

In Gaza, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said the truce would “ease the lives of Gazans,” but success or failure was in Israel’s hands. “The calm is going to bring stability to Israel if they commit themselves to it,” he said.

I do not know whether or not this truce will hold, but until these leaders can trust one another in public and in private we will continue to see these agreements fall apart. Maybe that cycle will be broken with this agreement, but I doubt it.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 at 2:26 pm and is filed under Outside Retort (Current Affairs).