After 15 months of U.S.-funded, vicious destruction by the Israel Occupation Forces of every city, including every hospital, school, torching tent cities and over 64,000 official deaths in Gaza, the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, in consultation with representatives of the other Palestinian factions, on Jan. 15 announced that a ceasefire agreement with the Zionist state of Israel had been reached. According to the Qatari foreign ministry, the ceasefire is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 19.

While we are waiting for clarification on the full terms of the agreement, Workers World welcomes the news of an agreement that leaves the Palestinian Resistance undefeated. The heroic people of Gaza have forced the U.S.-backed Zionist regime to officially deal with Hamas, which remains intact.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with massive shipments of arms from Washington, was committed to rooting out Hamas as the government of Gaza. Since Hamas was first elected to govern in 2006, the Zionists have refused to negotiate with this organization, even when deals were possible from the first days after October 7, 2023, and again during the initial prisoner exchange in November 2023.

Having illegally occupied greater Palestine since 1948, the Zionists wanted full control of Gaza and the expulsion of the population. Their military assaults, which resulted in mass deaths among Gaza’s civilians, were absolutely intended to cause the depopulation of northern Gaza to move in Zionist settlers and expand the Israeli state.

Despite enormous hardship and even facing famine, the people of Gaza have refused to be expelled to the south. In resistance, in guerrilla warfare, to survive as an organization is to live to fight another day. We salute this enormous political, organizational and military accomplishment, paid at a high price.

At the same time, Israel and U.S. imperialism are hated globally, on a scale not seen before. Tens of thousands of Zionist settlers have left Israel, where thousands of businesses have closed. 

A growing number of Israeli soldiers are speaking out against the 15-month genocide and refusing to serve anymore, saying that what they witnessed and did in Gaza crossed ethical lines. Two hundred Israeli soldiers signed a letter saying they would stop fighting if the government does not secure a ceasefire. Soldiers for the Hostages, the group behind the letter, distributed poster-size stickers with a Martin Luther King Jr. quote: “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”

Zionism has failed to achieve its aims and the resistance has survived. This latest ceasefire, no matter how short-term or long-term, reflects that Israel is not invincible and that its days of existence are numbered.

The movement in the United States in solidarity with Palestine must stay alert to prevent new war crimes and genocide from U.S. imperialism and from its ally in the West Asian region, the Zionist state.

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!