Beyond Disarmament: Addressing Structural Occupation, Blockade, and Accountability Gaps for Sustainable Peace in Gaza
Original framing: “Even if Hamas disarms, the challenge in Gaza will be accountability” — The Conversation - Global
The Gaza crisis cannot be divorced from the 1948 Nakba, the 1967 occupation, and successive peace processes that have repeatedly failed to address core issues of sovereignty and right of return. Historical patterns of external powers imposing top‑down solutions have repeatedly produced fragile truces that collapse under unresolved grievances. Understanding these continuities is essential for any accountability mechanism to avoid repeating past mistakes.
The Gaza accountability crisis is rooted in a matrix of occupation, blockade, and historical dispossession that mainstream narratives reduce to a single‑actor problem.
By foregrounding indigenous land knowledge, restorative cross‑cultural justice, and rigorous scientific evidence, we can design an accountability commission that holds all perpetrators—including the occupying power—responsible. Future modelling shows that only a combination of lifted restrictions, sustainable reconstruction, and guaranteed right‑of‑return can break the cycle of violence. Marginalised voices, especially women and refugees, must steer these processes, while trickster insights keep the discourse honest by exposing the paradoxes of selective justice. Together, these systemic pathways chart a realistic route toward durable peace and equitable development.