By Huang Peizhao
The situation in Gaza has once again drawn widespread international attention in recent days. Mediators including Egypt, Qatar, and Türkiye, together with various Palestinian factions, met in Cairo to discuss implementation of the ceasefire agreement, advancement of follow-on negotiations, and postwar reconstruction, reaching consensus on a number of related issues. In a joint statement, 19 countries, including France and Australia, together with Hadja Lahbib, European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, expressed deep concern over the continuing catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Despite intensive mediation efforts and diplomatic activity, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to worsen amid ongoing hostilities. When a solution to the Gaza question will emerge remains uncertain.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has persisted for more than half a century. Throughout this period, the international community has seen broad consensus on the issue, and various dialogue and consultation mechanisms have been conducted on a regular basis. Yet much of this consensus has remained at the procedural level, leaving peace in Gaza repeatedly on paper. As Middle Eastern media have observed, diplomatic consultations on the Israeli-Palestinian issue have increasingly become procedural exercises that fail to generate effective constraints on the conflict, resulting in a recurring cycle in which negotiations fail to produce peace and ceasefires fail to endure.
One important reason why ceasefire arrangements have repeatedly failed to take hold is the lack of an enforcement mechanism with binding authority. Since the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement took effect in October last year, differences over implementation and recurring clashes have persisted. Nearly 1,000 people have reportedly been killed in Israeli attacks, more than 3,000 have been injured, and large numbers of civilians remain trapped in a deepening humanitarian crisis. The reality has demonstrated that a temporary ceasefire lacking effective enforcement mechanisms is insufficient to preserve hard-won peace. Brief pauses in hostilities serve only as temporary buffers in a broader geopolitical contest. They neither address the underlying causes of the conflict nor break the cycle of violence and instability.
Yet amid the continuing realities of bombardment, destroyed homes and severe shortages of essential supplies, the people of Gaza have never abandoned their aspiration for a normal life. Collective weddings held amid the rubble, marathon events staged in devastated neighborhoods, and other small yet poignant scenes of daily life stand as vivid reminders of ordinary people's determination to uphold human dignity and preserve hope for peace. Freedom from war and the ability to live in security are fundamental rights shared by all humanity and represent a bottom line that international humanitarian principles must never allow to be breached.
The Middle East peace process has long remained stalled, and the fundamental reason for this impasse is the continued erosion of the foundations of the two-state solution. In accordance with relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the broad consensus of the international community, the two-state solution remains the only viable path toward a comprehensive resolution of the Palestinian question. For decades, external powers have been deeply involved in regional affairs, dominating peace initiatives and post-conflict governance arrangements. As a result, the Palestinians have been deprived of ownership over matters concerning their own future, significantly undermining the fairness, representativeness, and effectiveness of the peace process.
More recently, the US has continued to promote the expansion of the Abraham Accords, encouraging some Middle Eastern countries to normalize relations with Israel while deliberately sidestepping the Palestinian question. By attempting to substitute limited bilateral arrangements for a comprehensive political settlement, this approach has drawn opposition from many countries in the region. Countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan have consistently maintained that the Palestinian question lies at the heart of the Middle East issue. Without a just resolution of this core dispute, lasting peace in the region will remain out of reach.
Across the war-torn land of Gaza, people continue to look toward the prospect of peace. Their aspirations are simple and sincere: to live free from the shadow of conflict and to enjoy a stable and secure life. For the people of Gaza, peace is their most urgent and immediate need. They hope that the light of peace will soon shine upon this land scarred by years of suffering and devastation.