AWC Statement on the Current Ceasefire Agreement
January 20, 2025
After nearly 16 months of non-stop genocide in Gaza, the Unified Palestinian Resistance has wrung a ceasefire deal from the Israeli occupation. This is a critical moment to reflect and prepare the next steps for our movement, particularly as the US prepares to inaugurate a viciously right-wing government that promises to punish Palestine and the solidarity movement like never before.
The ceasefire deal involves a massive prisoner exchange: waves of Israeli captives will be released in exchange for the release of as many as 4,000 Palestinian political prisoners, including all women and children currently imprisoned by apartheid Israel. The first phase of the deal will free half of all Palestinian political prisoners serving life sentences. Israel is required to withdraw to the edge of Gaza, reopen the Rafah crossing, and allow aid into Gaza.
This ceasefire did not fall out of the sky. It also did not come from the conscience of Joe Biden or Donald Trump, despite both attempting to claim it as their personal political win. The ceasefire agreement was won by the Palestinian Resistance. Israel was unable to achieve any of its stated goals in Gaza: the Resistance has not been eliminated, Israel has not been able to annex the territory and bring it under Israeli control, and missiles have not stopped falling on Tel Aviv. Despite resorting to the highest war crime — genocide — Israel has failed to subdue the people of Gaza.
But the damage inflicted upon Gaza has been catastrophic. At least 50,000 Palestinians have been massacred; international experts estimate the number to be closer to 200,000. The number of the wounded and missing is even higher. Most of Gaza has been reduced to rubble and will take decades to rebuild. The Israeli military has deliberately despoiled Palestinian farmland across Gaza, rendering it unusable for the foreseeable future. Political leadership changes in Lebanon and Syria pose new challenges for the Resistance.
More than this, while Palestinians and people of conscience around the world can celebrate the victory of the Resistance over Israel’s attempt to annihilate it once and for all, a ceasefire on its own does not render justice for Palestine. Palestinians still live underIsrael’s apartheid system. Israeli military raids continue on a daily basis across all of occupied Palestine. Palestinians still are denied their legal Right of Return to the homes that were stolen from them. US weapons continue to flow to apartheid Israel in a torrent, and US money continues to prop up the Israeli economy.
While the ceasefire agreement offers much-needed relief to Palestinians who have survived nearly 16 months of genocide, the ceasefire agreement does not mean that our work within the Palestine solidarity movement is done. While Palestinians begin rebuilding Gaza and journalists unearth details about the scale of atrocities, we must continue to push for our demands that have always gone beyond a ceasefire. We will continue fighting for a free Palestine, for self-determination and the Right of Return for all Palestinians, for an end to all U.S. aid to Israel, including the State of Minnesota’s complete divestment from apartheid Israel.
