Joint Statement by Three Worker-communist Parties in the Region:

Ceasefire in Gaza! This is Just the Beginning!

Following the agreement between Hamas and Israel, the first phase of ceasefire in Gaza began on Sunday, January 19, 2025. This ceasefire, planned to occur in three phases, includes the release of all Israeli hostages and two thousand Palestinian hostages, the reopening of humanitarian aid routes to Gaza, the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza in stages, the return of Palestinian refugees to their cities and villages, and the reconstruction of Gaza. So far, only the first phase of this plan has been fully agreed upon.

With the announcement of the ceasefire and the cessation of the bombing and killing of Palestinians, which continued until the very last moment, a wave of joy swept across Palestine. Joy at the end of the roar of bombers and the firing of bombs and missiles from the ground and air, with the most powerful weapons of mass destruction, on Palestinian children and people who were mercilessly targeted and killed in hunger and poverty amidst the ruins of the Gaza Strip, without any shelter. A massacre that, over 15 months, marked one of the bloodiest crimes and genocides in human history by Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, and their allies. A massive killing and cleansing that resulted in at least 56,000 dead, 110,000 wounded, tens of thousands missing, millions of displaced Palestinians, and the complete destruction of the Gaza Strip, in addition to the killing and wounding of thousands in the West Bank. Fifteen months in which Gaza was turned into the world's largest slaughterhouse, and its butchers, the Israeli ruling class, had officially declared that they would continue the slaughter until the last Palestinian. A crime that could have been nipped in the bud but ending it was made impossible by the unconditional support of Western governments, led by the United States.

Today, after 15 months of crime, Israel has been forced to agree to a ceasefire, forced to back down without achieving its stated goals, and forced to halt its attacks. Although there is no guarantee that the subsequent phases of this plan will be implemented and that Israel will not resume the killing and bombing of the Palestinian people, as the leaders of this country have officially stated, the very fact of Israel accepting the ceasefire plan is an acceptance of the failure of the fascist and murderous Israeli government, both militarily and politically. The mere announcement of the ceasefire stamps this failure and disgrace not only on the Israeli government but also on all the governments that supported this crime and are partners of the Israeli government in the crime against humanity.

Over the past 15 months, the world has witnessed a great struggle between the civilized people of the world and the Israeli government and its Western partners, against barbarism and genocide, against their war crimes, and in defence of the Palestinian people. During these 15 months, tens of thousands of large rallies and demonstrations, labour strikes, student protests, and more took place all over the world, especially in Western countries, from Washington and London to Paris and Berlin. The demand for an immediate end to the genocide of the Palestinian people, an immediate cessation of military, intelligence, political, financial, and propaganda aid from Western governments to Israel, a boycott of Israel, and the prosecution of its leaders along with the leaders of the "noble" Western governments for committing war crimes and genocide, were part of the demands of these people. For 15 months, hundreds of millions of people took to the streets and exposed the ugly face of the hypocritical "democratic" Western governments behind the mask and rhetoric of "democracy, human rights, and Western civilization," presenting them to the world as killers of Palestinian children and butchers of tens of thousands of innocent people, and demanding their trial.

Israel's agreement to a ceasefire and its backing down from its stated goals in the sinister plan of a new Middle East for its fascist ruling class, in which there is no trace of Palestine, is, regardless of any other factor, the result of the standing and non-yielding of hundreds of millions of peace-loving and supportive people of Palestine. Contrary to the shameless claims of Western governments and their medal-giving to each other as the lever of this peace and the factor in stopping the war, the leaders of these governments and the claimants of "peace" are the same criminals and murderers who have been brought to their knees under public pressure. Contrary to the noise of the reactionary governments in the region, from Iran to Turkey, who, in order to achieve their reactionary goals, hypocritically claim to defend the Palestinian people and their freedom and highlight their role in pressuring for the acceptance of the ceasefire, it was this deeply human movement of people around the world that brought the Israeli fascists to their knees.

Today, peace-loving and civilized people around the world not only have the right to be happy about even a temporary and small window of cessation of killing and crime against the Palestinian people, but also with pride and confidence in their struggle to completely end the war, end the occupation of Palestine, rebuild Gaza, and provide the means of life, to restore peace and security to this region and completely curb the fascist Israeli government and to prosecute all criminals and perpetrators of this barbarism, to continue their struggle.

The announcement of the ceasefire and the cessation of the killing of the Palestinian people is still the beginning. Tens of thousands of people are still under the rubble, thousands of Palestinian prisoners are in Israeli prisons who must be freed. The Gaza Strip, which has been destroyed under the carpet bombing of Israeli-American bombers and all the facilities of life and the works of civilization, from roads and water to industrial centers and economic infrastructure along with schools, kindergartens, health centers, and more, have been levelled to the ground, must be rebuilt. The issue of Palestine and the liberation of the Palestinian people from the fascist Israeli government, their security, happiness, and freedom are still on the agenda of civilized and humane humanity.

Today, after 15 months of protest and struggle by civilized humanity in defence of the Palestinian people, a global front has been formed and declares that the world is not just a playground for reactionary governments and war criminals. A front that today, from America and Europe to Africa and Asia, calls for an end to barbarism, an end to fascism and racism, an end to occupation and militarism, an end to ethnic and religious and nationalist wars.
The Palestinian people unfortunately paid a very high price during this period, but their resistance and the global support for these people brought great achievements to this front. Pushing back Israel and its failure in the face of this humanitarian front and forcing it to agree to a ceasefire, isolating it globally, disgracing Israel's partners and all reactionary governments, and discrediting all international institutions and claimants of civilization, human rights, and democracy ... are just some of them.

These facts once again show that ensuring peace and restoring the right to life for the Palestinian people and, moreover, ensuring and guaranteeing the most basic human rights around the world is only possible through the role of this movement, the role of the global working class, and international solidarity that has been formed during this period. This front is the only point of hope for the deprived people of Palestine to achieve freedom. The work of this front and the Palestinian people to completely defeat Israel and cut off the hands of war criminals from the Palestinian people and their freedom has not yet ended, this is just the beginning.

Worker-communist Party of Iraq
Worker-communist Party of Kurdistan
Hekmatist Party (Official Line)
January 21, 2025