Moment of hope in Gaza - Angus Robertson

Displaced Palestinians return to Rafah, Gaza Strip yesterday, a day after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)Displaced Palestinians return to Rafah, Gaza Strip yesterday, a day after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Displaced Palestinians return to Rafah, Gaza Strip yesterday, a day after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is welcome news. After the most deadly attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust by Hamas on October 7 2023 and subsequent 15 months of attacks on Gaza by Israel and the deaths of nearly 48,000 people; the deal struck in Qatar offers a moment of hope for the region and wider world.

The Scottish Government has long argued for a ceasefire, and we have continually pressed the UK Government to adopt this position as well.

Now that the conditions for a ceasefire have been agreed, all must come together to protect it.

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Nonetheless, the ceasefire deal is one which places criteria for peace over a considerable length of time. Hamas-held Israeli hostages and Israel-held Palestinian prisoners will be released over a period of time. While this may help motivate a long-term solution, it does mean trust and commitment to peace must be sustained.

With fringes of the Israeli and Hamas leaderships wishing to re-engage conflict, perhaps the greater challenge will be each side keeping their own coalitions together and adhering to the demands placed upon them.

For now, however, we can be pleased that the hostages, who were brutally ripped from their homes on October 7 and held captive in unimaginable conditions ever since, can now finally return to their families, and the people of Gaza can live without fear of indiscriminate violence, death and destruction.

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