Thread by @muhammadshehad2

December 2021: Israeli tanks go 100-200 meters inside Gaza to raze a strawberry farm while a Hamas militant prevents farmers from attacking the Israelis. How come?

🧵Explaining the Israeli-Hamas "ceasefire understandings" & why Israel never went for a formal ceasefire agreement

2\ The Israeli-Hamas "understandings" were brokered by Egypt, Qatar & UN

Hamas polices Israel's siege from the inside, prevents by force anyone from attacking Israel during periods of calm in return for Israel alleviating the blockade

Israel only partially fulfilled its promise

3\ Many attempts & proposals were made to cement "the calm" & establish a formal permanent ceasefire that'd see a mutual full cessation of hostilities in return for lifting the siege on Gaza

Israel killed the Hamas leader advancing this deal in 2012 & turned down later proposals

4\ In return for maintaining calm, Israel only gave Gazans occasional crumbs of mercy: e.g allowing 17,000 people to work in Israel, Qatari cash aid..

Gazans call these "sedatives" b/c Israel maintains "we won't allow real & long-term development in Gaza"
maariv.co.il/news/military/…

5\ The situation in Gaza continued to be dire: a permanent state of non-life where the majority of the population are unemployed & living beneath the poverty line.

Israel's occasional crumbs of mercy were a tool of blackmail: e.g. keep quiet or we will re-close the fishing zone.

6\ Israel's gov perfectly understood the only way to end Gaza's plight & get more sustainable calm would be to lift the blockade & go for a formal ceasefire.

An Israeli minister proposed re-opening Gaza's airport & seaport under int. supervision. Netanyahu turned him down...

7\ One reason why Israel never went for a permanent ceasefire was that it dehumanized Gaza so much & for so long that the only acceptable way to discuss Gaza became in terms of strength & deterrence.

Israeli politicians would only compete in terms of who can be tougher on Gaza!

8\ Israel's gov also had strategic gaols of keeping Gaza on the brink & under Hamas' control, to:

Use Gaza as a scarecrow to kill any discussion about ending its occupation in the West Bank. "If we leave, Hamas will take over like in Gaza"

To push Gazans to leave permanently!

9\ Even the informal Israel-Hamas "understanding" was violated repeatedly
Israel kept shooting at farmers & fishermen almost daily

Israel kept flying fighter jets & predator drones equipped with rockets 24/7 inside Gaza with an unbearable buzzing noise that gets loudest at night

10\ Israel kept heavily restricting Gaza's imports & exports & banning people from going in/out of Gaza except for very few humanitarian exceptions.

"We allow them to keep their heads above water, but not beyond that" Israel's defence minister 2018
makorrishon.co.il/news/12431/

11\ Whenever a violent escalation erupted, mediators would rush to Gaza to restore calm & go back to the "understandings". A formal ceasefire was NEVER finalized.

That very calm was always inherently violent for Gaza's population; a slow death & permanent state of non-life.