Because the US president insisted that Netanyahu's government make a peace agreement with Hezbollah, hey presto, it did. And so far, a cease-fire is holding. It was nothing to do with the UN, nothing to do with "international law", nor with any other organisation, nor politician.

    The immediate offer by Hamas on Wednesday, to negotiate a similar deal, belies western propaganda. That is, that it was Hamas which had broken up previous negotiations over a cease-fire deal. Actually its only condition today (we are told) is that the IDF leaves Gaza - although of course hostages need to be released by both sides...

    Will Biden/Netanyahu agree? One has to wonder what more they hope to achieve after razing much of this ancient city-state to the ground, killing ~50,000 and wounding ~ 105,000 of its 1.9m inhabitants.

    If this Lebanon deal shows anything, it's that Netanyahu had not "gone rogue" over Gaza. The US was always perfectly capable of getting him to stop this war - and neither was he being manipulated by an "ultra-Zionist" Cabinet. No, US leaders obviously had no real problem with the death and destruction meted out to the Palestinians.

    So it was a bit much to hear how the Lebanon deal would resolve the "desperate" plight of the 70,000 alive, but displaced Israelis (homes still standing!) who are "refugees in their own land"!

    Talk about apartheid racism, and the devaluing of a whole (unrecognised) Palestinian population! Yes, 1.8m displaced Gazans, imprisoned "refugees in their own land" stuck in tents, under fire, semi-starved, are not (were never) considered a priority by Netanyahu's boss in Washington... And by the way, whether the name of the boss is Biden today or Trump tomorrow, makes no difference.

    The workers of this world know exactly what it is to be "second class" citizens in their own land. Which is why, in this conflict, we are firmly on the side of our fellow second class Palestinian (and Lebanese) brothers and sisters.