Irish Examiner view: Ceasefire is an opportunity to work on a long-term peace deal

The prospects for long-term peace in Israel and Palestine are dim given Benjamin Netanyahu's pledge to continue with the war once the ceasefire ends

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, faces plenty of political pressure domestically, with a significant section of the electorate believes he should resign. Picture: Abir Sultan/AP
 

To say the ceasefire in Gaza is badly needed is an understatement. The horrific scenes the world is witnessing in that sliver of land in the Middle East beggar belief.   

Every day brings a new marker of barbarity — the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) doctors killed in an air strike earlier on Al-Awda hospital in northern Gaza, or the head of the UN children’s agency describing Gaza simply as “the most dangerous place in the world to be a child”.