Hamas accepts ceasefire deal as Israel prepares brutal Gaza City invasion
By isabelle // 2025-08-19
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  • Hamas accepts a 60-day ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar, offering prisoner exchanges and aid increases.
  • Israel rejects the proposal, with Netanyahu demanding Hamas’s total disarmament and vowing continued military escalation.
  • More than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed, with 112 children starved to death due to Israel’s blockade and U.S. backing.
  • Netanyahu’s far-right government openly pursues ethnic cleansing, planning Gaza’s reoccupation and displacement of Palestinians.
  • Western complicity—U.S. arms, media bias, and diplomatic cover—fuels the genocide while protests demand accountability and peace.
We’ve been watching in horror as Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza has slaughtered more than 62,000 Palestinians, starved children to death, and reduced entire cities to rubble—all while Western governments and media outlets turn a blind eye. Now, as Hamas announces its acceptance of a 60-day ceasefire proposal brokered by Egypt and Qatar, Israel’s extremist government is once again refusing peace, insisting instead on total annihilation. On August 18, Hamas confirmed it had agreed to the latest Egyptian-mediated deal, which includes the release of 10 Israeli captives in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners during a two-month truce. The proposal, based on a prior U.S.-backed framework, also calls for increased humanitarian aid and a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Yet rather than seizing this opportunity to end the bloodshed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—ever the warmonger—dismissed the move, declaring Hamas is “under immense pressure” and doubling down on his demand for the group’s total disarmament. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump, a cheerleader for Israeli atrocities, took to Truth Social to declare that hostages will only be freed once Hamas is “destroyed.” His statement came as hundreds of thousands of Israelis flooded the streets of Tel Aviv, demanding their government prioritize the lives of captives over Netanyahu’s obsession with perpetual war. But Netanyahu, a man who has built his career on fearmongering and ethnic cleansing, remains undeterred.

A regime built on genocide

The numbers speak for themselves. Gaza’s Health Ministry reports over 62,000 Palestinians killed—half of them women and children—with another 156,000 wounded. At least 112 children have starved to death due to Israel’s deliberate blockade, a tactic Amnesty International has rightly called a “campaign of starvation.” Yet instead of facing accountability, Israel continues to receive billions in U.S. military aid, weapons, and diplomatic cover. Netanyahu’s refusal to accept even a temporary ceasefire isn’t just reckless... it’s genocidal. His government, packed with far-right extremists like Itamar Ben-Gvir, who openly calls for the annexation of Gaza, has made it clear: the goal isn’t security, but ethnic cleansing. They've openly admitted to planning a reoccupation of Gaza City, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are trapped. What’s even more sickening is the West’s complicity. While the U.S. pretends to broker peace, it simultaneously arms Israel to the teeth, ensuring the slaughter continues. And let’s not forget the media’s role in this. For decades, Palestinian voices were silenced, their suffering erased from headlines. Only now, as social media exposes the truth, are we seeing a shift, but it’s not enough. Mainstream outlets still parrot Israeli talking points, framing Hamas as the sole obstacle to peace while ignoring Netanyahu’s repeated rejections of ceasefires.

A choice between life and annihilation

The reality is simple: Hamas has agreed to a deal that could save lives. Israel has not. Netanyahu’s insistence on “destroying” Hamas is a smokescreen for his true goal: permanent occupation and the expulsion of Palestinians. His far-right coalition doesn’t want peace; they want a Gaza stripped of its people, a biblical fantasy of Jewish supremacy from the river to the sea. So here we are, staring down a genocide in real time, bankrolled by the U.S., cheered on by politicians who see Palestinian lives as expendable, and justified by a media that still can’t bring itself to call this what it is. Netanyahu’s government isn’t just rejecting peace; it’s rejecting the very idea that Palestinians have a right to exist. And while the world wrings its hands, children in Gaza are buried under rubble, families starve under siege, and hostages—Israeli and Palestinian alike—rot in captivity because one man’s thirst for war outweighs their right to live. The deal is on the table. The protests are in the streets. And the blood is on our hands. What’s it going to take for the world to finally say enough? Sources for this article include: TheCradle.co NBCNews.com NYTimes.com CNN.com Reuters.com
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