Eta Declare Ceasefire

Sitting here in Northern Ireland seems the right place to be to read about the fact the the Basque separatist terror group Eta have declared a 'ceasefire' via a video statement.

Like the IRA here they are putting their hopes in democracy from now on to gain their independence. Founded in 1959 their move today to seek a democratic solution by declaring a ceasefire, which it is not clear if is temporary or permanent, must be looked at as a major step from the North Eastern Region and indeed the whole of Spain. In the historical context the first IRA ceasefire turned out to be a temporary measure, but the actions since then have lead to Sinn Féin having an active role in the politics of Northern Ireland, currently having the Deputy First Minister.

In their declaration the three masked spokesmen said:

"Eta confirms its commitment to finding a democratic solution to the conflict.

"In its commitment to a democratic process to decide freely and democratically our future, through dialogue and negotiations, Eta is prepared today as yesterday to agree to the minimum democratic conditions necessary to put in motion a democratic process, if the Spanish government is willing.

"We call on all Basque citizens to continue in the struggle, each in their own field, with whatever degree of commitment they have, so that we can all cast down the wall of denial and make irreversible moves forward on the road to freedom."

Like the IRA, Eta's demand for a Basque nation extends beyond the boundaries of one administrative area and nation. They territorial claims stretch from the Basque administrative region eastwards along the Pyrenees and into France, and somewhat southeasterly into Northern Spain.

I do hope that these negotiations do end in a lasting peace. The previous attempt attempts at peace talks ended in a bomb killing two at Madrid airport in 2006.

Devastation of Gaza Unveiled

With the ceasefire in place the full extent of the 3 week bombardment on Gaza has now emerged.

• Half a millon people have been without water for 3 weeks.
• Huge numbers also without power
• 4,000 homes in ruins.
• Tens of thousands homeless.
• 16 health facilities and 16 ambulances damaged.
• 60 Schools damaged (including 4 used by the UN as shelters for the homeless)
• More than 1,300 Palestinains dead (that's a 100:1 ratio with the Israelis)
• Over 20,000 injured

The Palestinians are now pulling dead from the rubble of buildings. Something they couldn't start to do under the constant bombardment. But something that even after the ceasefire was subject to Israel army movements. The Israels who took hows to enter are taking days to withdraw but promise to be be done by 19:00 local time (17:00 GMT) tomororrow when Barack Obama is to be inaugurated.

There have been 20 rockets fired from Palestine into Israel since the announcement of the unilateral Israeli ceasefire. However, it is not clear by the wording from Israeli authorities whether these were before or after the actually start of the ceasefire which was some hours after the announcement. Israel responded with an air strike.

Half an Hour Til Peace?

In less than half a hour there will be a ceasefire over Gaza; we hope.

However, with Israel saying that any rocket fired after the 02:00 Local Time 24:00 GMT deadline will be met with a surgical strike (we've seen how inaccurate some of these have been over the last 3 weeks) and Hamas saying it will not accept one Israeli soldier still being present in Gaza. It looks like a very uneasy peace and we will only be able to tell just what happens after it takes effect.

Israel to Vote on Gaza Ceasefire

The UN failed to force them to do it, but after over a further week of death and destruction the Israelis are prepared after talks with Egypt to vote on whether to declare a unilateral ceasefire on Gaza later today.

It is all very much like the talks in Northern Ireland as while both parties are in Cairo they appear not to have been in talks with each other but with Egypt acting as a intermediary. These were the talks that America wanted to see how they progressed when they abstained on the UN security councils resolution. As with Northern Ireland there are conditions from both sides. Hamas obviously want the Israelis to stop their occupation of Gaza and the end of the blockade. Israel insist that any further rockets being fired will bring an immediate end to their agreement of a ceasefire. Of course it doesn't say what Palestine should be expected to do should the Israelis launch an attack themselves without any rockets being fired.

There is talk from Hamas that they will not currently accept the Israeli conditions due to the maintained suppression through control of their boundaries. Even with all the destruction of their homes the Palestinians do not want to give up and hand over too much to Israel who have been extremely heavy handed and aggressive in their treatment of this situation over the weeks.

So far 1,155 Palestinians have been killed and 5,015 injured against 13 Israelis dead, and 223 wounded in the three weeks of this latest conflict.