Gaza and coercive diplomacy!

It is true that Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and redeployed 9,000 settlers around the Strip, but at the core of the truth, Gaza was not liberated. The Gaza Strip remained under the complete control of the Israeli occupation authorities by land, air and sea. As Ariel Sharon's aide, Dov Weissglass, explained, "Disengagement is actually formaldehyde. It provides the necessary supply of basic needs so that they avoid any political process with the Palestinians!"

The Israeli withdrawal from Gaza was unilateral and was not coordinated with the Palestinian National Authority or the PLO, which led to the institutional and political division that has lasted for two decades. Israel used legitimate resistance as a pretext to brand Gaza as “terrorism,” and promoted to the international community that it had granted the Gaza Strip autonomy in an attempt to say that the Palestinians were divided and failed to manage the Strip, which prompted it to impose the siege!

Multilateral diplomacy failed 2.2 million Palestinians who lived in the largest prison in the world called Gaza under a comprehensive closure and Israeli air, sea and land control, deprived of the most basic human rights. Dealing with the Strip from a humanitarian perspective has made Gaza a challenge to the international community, as it has become politically and institutionally separated from the West Bank, while Israel maintains a comprehensive occupation at no cost. Achieving sustainable security requires lifting the siege and ending the long-term military occupation. This siege represents a form of structural violence and collective punishment that rises to the level of a war crime that cannot be ignored.
The world has endured seeing more than 35,000 young Palestinians seeking asylum across territorial waters, endangering their lives, and choosing to be dragged to the sea over their miserable lives in a large prison called Gaza after an Israeli siege that lasted 17 years, not to mention 75 years of apartheid, persecution, and the colonial colonial system.

The world witnessed the deadly military raids and incursions that Gaza faced to weaken the spirit of resistance. The resistance relied on launching rockets as a negotiating tactic to put pressure on Israel and obtain some facilities under the siege. The movement has long rejected the tools of diplomacy and negotiations as inconsistent with its ideology. Instead, “jihad” was defined not as a tactic but as a comprehensive and effective strategy. Diplomacy was contrary to the movement’s ideology. Today the situation is different! Resistance movements provide a model for coercive diplomacy, especially prisoner exchange negotiations. The element of surprise employed by the Palestinian resistance was a surprise to the Israeli army machine. The resistance strengthened the Palestinian position in the event that any upcoming normalization agreements or any bilateral negotiations that the Israelis might undertake, similar to the prisoner exchange negotiations that were to be built upon, were built. It happened in 2011, when the occupation authorities released 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one hostage. What about today with more than 50 hostages, and 5,200 prisoners still languishing behind the bars of the occupation, in addition to more than 140 captive martyrs?

The resistance exposed the occupying state. The resistance we are witnessing is just a natural human struggle to achieve freedom and the most basic human rights. The Palestinian people, like other peoples, have the right to live in dignity, freely and independently, and they have the right to defend themselves in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.

Statements of international condemnation and unconditional support for Netanyahu's far-right Israeli government can only fuel more organized state terrorism and more impunity for Israel's ongoing crimes and collective punishment against Palestinian civilians. Since the beginning of 2023, the far-right government has executed more than 450 Palestinians!

The opportunity is ripe for Gaza to practice coercive diplomacy. This sudden development will increase pacification efforts and chances for a breakthrough. The state of emergency launched by Netanyahu will increase the possibility of normalization with Saudi Arabia and actual American intervention in the region. The resistance succeeded in carrying the stick, and strengthened the Palestinian position in any normalization or bilateral negotiations. On the near horizon. It is necessary to build through a historic prisoner exchange and remember that Gaza is part of Palestine. There must be accountability for Israeli crimes and protection for the Palestinian people, but above all, we must demand the lifting of the siege and an end to the Israeli occupation.

- Dalal Erekat: Professor of Diplomacy and Strategic Planning, College of Graduate Studies, Arab American University.