According to a politician from the Hezbollah-led March 8 camp, quoting an official of the pro-Iranian party, “a ceasefire will be announced in Gaza following the visit to Washington of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”
However, key questions remain: What would the post-war phase in Gaza look like, and who would negotiate with Israel and implement any agreement on the Palestinian side, now that a reconciliation accord has been inked between Palestinian rivals, Hamas and Fatah Movement, in China.
Will it be Hamas or Fatah, through a new government that would be formed following a restructuring of the Palestinian Authority and the inclusion of all Palestinian factions, notably those that revolve around the axis of resistance, especially Hamas and Islamic Jihad?
Another key question also comes up: Who will guarantee the agreement and supervise its implementation between Israel and the Palestinians? Will it be the US, Egypt and Qatar, which would be joined at a later stage by France and Saudi Arabia, in other words, the member states of the group known as the Paris Quintet?
Western diplomats maintain that a ceasefire in Gaza will constitute the basis for ending the Arab-Israeli conflict through the two-state solution.
