Israeli Strikes Kill Children in Gaza Even as Ceasefire Talks Claim “Progress” in Cairo

Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least four people, including two children, on Thursday, even as mediators held fresh talks with Hamas in Cairo aimed at fully implementing the U.S.-brokered ceasefire reached last October. Medics said an airstrike on a tent encampment in Khan Younis killed a man and an eight-year-old girl, while a separate strike in Gaza City killed a man riding a bicycle and wounded ten others; at least 34 people were wounded across the strikes overall, and one additional person died of previous wounds [1, 2, 3]. A Hamas official and a diplomat close to the talks described the Cairo negotiations as “positive” and “making progress” toward a roadmap for decommissioning heavy and light weapons in Gaza [3].

The strikes are the latest in a pattern of violence since the October ceasefire took effect; Gaza’s Government Media Office has recorded thousands of alleged Israeli violations of the truce, which it says have killed more than 1,100 Palestinians in the months since [3].

Why It Sucks:

Conservatives

• Israel’s right to respond isn’t in question. Most congressional Republicans continue to back Israel’s military operations against Hamas, arguing that a group which used the October truce to rearm and regroup forfeits the protection of a ceasefire [4].
• A fringe revolt just got crushed. When Rep. Thomas Massie tried to strip $3.3 billion in annual military aid to Israel, the amendment was overwhelmingly defeated, with only Massie himself voting for it among Republicans [4].
• The administration insists the deal is intact. Officials have repeatedly maintained that “nothing” will jeopardize the ceasefire even as strikes continue, framing continued Israeli action as compatible with, not a violation of, the agreement [4].

Progressives

• Dead children again, on schedule. Progressive lawmakers led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have publicly called out the continued killing of Palestinian children as a direct violation of a ceasefire the U.S. helped broker and continues to fund [5].
• A “ceasefire” with thousands of alleged violations isn’t one. Gaza’s Government Media Office has tallied nearly 3,700 recorded violations since October, resulting in more than 1,100 Palestinian deaths, numbers progressives say expose the truce as more rhetorical than real [3].
• Military aid keeps flowing regardless. Calls from the Congressional Progressive Caucus to condition or end U.S. military assistance to Israel have gone nowhere in Congress, even as strikes on civilians continue on Washington’s watch [5].

Palestinians in Gaza

• The bombs never actually stopped. Families in Khan Younis and Gaza City are burying an eight-year-old girl and a man killed on a bicycle, deaths that occurred under a deal that was supposed to have ended airstrikes months ago [1, 2].
• Diplomatic “progress” doesn’t stop shrapnel. Even as negotiators in Cairo describe talks as positive, people on the ground in Gaza are being killed and wounded in the dozens on the very days those talks are happening [1, 3].
• Trust in the process is running out. With thousands of alleged ceasefire violations and over a thousand deaths since October, Gazans have little reason to believe a new “roadmap” will hold any better than the last one [3].

Sources & Citations:

[1] Al Jazeera: Israeli strikes kill at least four, including children, across Gaza Strip
[2] Haaretz: Four Killed in Gaza – Including Two Children – in Overnight IDF Strikes, Medics Say
[3] US News: Gaza Ceasefire Talks See Rare Progress, Sources Say
[4] The Hill: Usually unified on Israel, Republicans hit new split over war in Gaza
[5] Fox News: AOC leads two dozen Democrats calling out Israel ceasefire violations against children in Gaza