Regardless of how the ceasefire turns out, Palestinians have no cause for optimism. From Muhammad Shehada at +972 magazine:
Even if Trump’s plan ends the Gaza war, Palestinians will face a deep, enduring void: of language, hope, and politics that proved futile in the face of genocide.
“Words don’t mean anything anymore.” This is one of the most common sentiments I hear from family, friends, and colleagues still in Gaza. Two years into Israel’s relentless genocide, what we are left with is not only a trail of bodies and ruins but also a brutal collapse of meaning itself. Words like “atrocity,” “siege,” “resistance,” and even “genocide” have been emptied through repetition, unable to carry the weight of what Palestinians have endured day after day, night after night.
During the first days after October 7, I would speak with loved ones over the phone as much as possible, knowing that each conversation could be the last time I hear their voices. We would usually talk about their anguish, desperation, and fear that death was closing in on them. Some would send their last wishes or their wills; others even began to yearn for death as respite from this endless apocalypse.
But after 24 months, silence has taken over. Everything has been said, every feeling expressed over and over again to the point of being completely hollowed of meaning. When I speak with those still trapped in Gaza, their silence is coupled with the shame of begging for help — for a tent, food, water, or medicine — and my greater shame as a result of my inability to secure anything for them.
