Peace must not get bogged down in Gaza's winter mud

Résumé détaillé

The deaths of five people, including three children, in a tent collapse in Deir Al Balah are a terrible reminder that, for Palestinians in Gaza, an ostensible ceasefire has yet to…

The deaths of five people, including three children, in a tent collapse in Deir Al Balah are a terrible reminder that, for Palestinians in Gaza, an ostensible ceasefire has yet to bring anything like a normal life. For hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians, the arrival of winter and associated flooding have brought additional threats to their survival and misery to their daily routines in makeshift homes. The international community cannot allow this to become another season of suffering that is met with concern but not enough action.

More than 70,000 tents have been flooded across the ruins of Gaza, with water rising to about a metre in some camps. Civil defence teams received more than 2,100 distress calls during recent storms but could respond to only 218, hampered by a lack of personnel and equipment. The shortage of heavy machinery, which Palestinian and humanitarian officials say is being kept out by Israeli restrictions, has further undermined the ability to rescue people and make damaged areas safe.

These conditions – although exacerbated by the weather – are the tangible consequences of a ceasefire that has not yet delivered basic requirements such as safety and a dignified existence. In September, Nickolay Mladenov, high representative for Gaza under the Board of Peace, warned of the dangers that another winter could bring. The events of recent days show how prescient that warning was.

There is, however, an opportunity to change course. The political uncertainty surrounding the incoming Israeli government, alongside signs that US President Donald Trump wants Israel to take further steps towards implementing his Gaza peace plan, should concentrate minds in Washington. Mr Trump helped broker the ceasefire, and the Board of Peace that oversees it bears the personal stamp of the President. Therefore, he has both the influence and responsibility to ensure that the agreement becomes more than a framework on paper.

But this is not a responsibility to be borne…

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