WATCH | Deep Dive | What Exactly Is A Ceasefire? - video Dailymotion

OutlookIndia

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gets ready to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington next week, one big question still hangs in the air: Will there be a ceasefire with Hamas? Trump recently posted online saying Israel agreed to a 60-day halt in fighting—and warned Hamas that if they don’t follow suit, things could get worse. So far, Hamas hasn’t said a word.  Ceasefires aren’t peace treaties. They can ease tensions and open the door to more serious negotiations, but they don’t fix the underlying issues causing the conflict.  Right now, the U.S. is working with Qatar and Egypt to help move this deal forward.  Watch the full video to know more.  Script/VO: Rani Jana Editor: Sudhanshu  #Ceasefire #MiddleEast #Conflict #Netanyahu #DonaldTrump #Israel #Hamas #USForeignPolicy #Gaza #Palestine #Iran

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00:00As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Washington next week for a meeting with

00:05US President Donald Trump on a possible ceasefire deal with Hamas, it's worth pausing to ask

00:11what exactly is a ceasefire? Trump, in his usual style, already announced on his social media

00:18that Israel had agreed to a 60-day ceasefire and warned Hamas that if they do not agree,

00:26it will only get worse. Meanwhile, Qatar and Egypt have been working with the US

00:31to get the ceasefire deal through. Hamas has so far not responded. A ceasefire is an agreement

00:39to halt fighting between opposing parties in a conflict. It can be temporary or permanent and

00:46either declared unilaterally by one side or agreed upon by both or all sides involved.

00:52But ceasefires are not the same as peace treaties and they don't resolve the underlying issues.

01:01They are often just a first step towards de-escalation and diplomacy. In major conflicts

01:08like the one between Israel and Iran, ceasefires can be particularly complex. The two countries have

01:15no formal diplomatic relations and are engaged in a long-standing proxy and cyber conflict.

01:23So, any ceasefire between them usually requires mediation by a third party, a country or an

01:30organization trusted or at least tolerated by both sides. In this case, the United States has called

01:39a ceasefire between the two nations. Since May 10, when India and Pakistan decided to stop the

01:47military conflict, Trump on multiple instances claimed that he helped settle tensions between the two

01:54nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors and that America would do a lot of trade with them if they stopped the

02:01nuclear conflict. But India's External Affairs Minister S. Jai Shankar stressed that the May 10 ceasefire was the

02:09outcome of direct military-to-military communication between the two countries, including India's Operation Sindhur

02:17and not U.S. mediation. The primary purpose of a ceasefire is to stop violence and save lives. When hostilities are

02:26paused even briefly, it allows civilians to access aid and evacuate danger zones. Ceasefires also reduce the

02:36risk of miscalculation and further escalation, giving leaders time to assess their positions and explore

02:44possible diplomatic solutions. However, ceasefires are fragile by nature. They are often broken due to

02:52weak terms that both sides interpret differently, no enforcement mechanisms, there's often no neutral

03:01party on the ground to monitor violations, or rogue groups who reject the deal entirely and keep attacking.

03:09In some cases, one side may even exploit the pause to regroup militarily. So, while ceasefires are

03:17critical to saving lives and opening doors for diplomacy, they are not the end of conflict,

03:24merely a pause. Whether they hold or collapse often decides how many more lives will be lost before true

03:32peace is ever possible.

WATCH | Deep Dive | What Exactly Is A Ceasefire?

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