00:01Let's now welcome political scientist Bruno Limas Rocha to go deeper on the latest developments in Gaza and the high-level summit in Egypt.
00:08Welcome, Bruno, to From the South.
00:11Well, thanks for having me.
00:12It's our pleasure. Bruno, today we saw the completion of that first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which was the exchange of prisoners.
00:19Before going into that deeper, what factors led to the signing of the current ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas?
00:25I really understand that when Tel Aviv decided, with a revolting compliance and the complicity, sorry, of United States to bombard Qatar, to attack Doha, and reminding that Qatar, United Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, they are aligned to the United States, they crossed a new red line.
00:50And this was the must-be situation for Doha, for Cairo, and even for Erdogan in Ankara, because if they allowed the Israeli forces to bombard U.S. allies in the region, this would be a green flag to attack all over all countries there, even a NATO member like Turkey.
01:14So this was the last situation of Netanyahu, before being forced to sign an agreement with Donald Trump and the ceasefire and the release of common prisoners.
01:27Going back to the release of Palestinian prisoners, some are actually not returning home because they have been exiled.
01:33What message does this send, and what effects could the release of important figures from the resistance movements have on the future stability of the current agreement?
01:42This is another key point, thanks for the question, because if we understand the process of the Palestinian revolution, the Palestinian national liberation movement, always the prisoners who went out of the jail and reinforced the political party, the political movements, they were the key factors for the new institutions and the new stability situation.
02:08I understand that if the ceasefire goes forward to a Palestinian state or a complex agreement, I'm very skeptical about this, but this is a possibility, those release will occupy key positions in the new Palestinian political constellation after the Beijing agreement of last year with 14 political parties, including Fatah and Hamas.
02:38For better or worse, Bruno, the United States played an important role in these negotiations, even though they say they wanted to end the conflict, while at the same time they were continuing to provide support military and diplomatic to this regime to carry out this genocidal war on Gaza.
03:01So what geopolitical interests do you think the United States has in the region?
03:13As said Joe Biden before, it's like a fortress, a fort, a military fort of the Western societies, especially the United States inside the Middle East.
03:22I think that Trump does have the illusion to establish a protectorate of Palestinian with half sovereignty being funded and with money from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Emirates and being so-called protected by NATO forces like Turkey.
03:43He understands, but he cannot see the only solution is a viable sovereign Palestinian state. Otherwise, in a way or another, the struggle will begin, will continue and will begin again.
03:58Egypt, also this Monday, is hosting a peace summit with a lot of international representation of the highest level. What concrete results can we expect from this summit and what role will the Arab countries play in the political and economic future of Gaza and the West Bank?
04:15Again, wonderful questions. First, I understand that diplomacy of Egypt is very capable and they are very concerned about the details.
04:28Egypt understands that besides being a client of US money, they cannot allow a new Palestinian city or a new refugee camp, a so big one, a huge one in the Sinai Peninsula.
04:44So they are concerned about the details. The possibility of the next phase is to rebuild Gaza with Arab money and a common force organized by the Arab League and the International Islamic Cooperation Organization.
05:01This is the only solution. Palestinian people will not accept a new British mandate, a new protectorate and not even can have, they cannot even listen the name of Tony Blair and other Western politicians to be the manager of a new Gaza.
05:20This is unviable. This is unviable and Egyptian diplomatics, they won't allow this to go on.
05:27Bruno, to conclude, we know the track record of Israel when it comes to ceasefires. So how sustainable do you believe this fire agreement between Israel and Hamas is? Will it last?
05:38I hope so. I hope so. But all along those years, those decades, we learn to not believe any single words from Israel and even words from Netanyahu.
05:51But they understand that they are obedient to Trump. And as far as Washington does not allow them to kill anymore or to kill directly anymore, they will be more concerned about it.
06:04It's bad news. Bad news. After the ceasefire, they still bombard the Gaza city. Yesterday, if I'm not yesterday. And after the ceasefire, they killed over 64 Palestinian citizens.
06:17It's to wait and to be confident on the Palestinian political forces to establish a new situation. This is the only way out.
06:28Thank you, Bruno, very much for your time and your input here from the South with us and with our audience.
06:34Thank you for having me. It was our pleasure.
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