Extolling the virtues of a ceasefire in the Gaza war that collapsed barely two hours after it took effect, United States Secretary of State John Kerry inadvertently highlighted the root cause of the failure of international efforts to silence the guns in the Palestinian territory and resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Under the ceasefire, Israel would have been allowed to continue destroying tunnels built by Hamas, while Palestinians “will be able to receive food, medicine… tend to their wounded, bury their dead… travel to their homes… [and] take advantage of the absence – hopefully, hopefully – of violence,” Kerry said.

While the ceasefire was likely doomed because it did not enforce a complete halt to hostilities, its speedy collapse reflected a new-found Palestinian resolve to ensure that its interests are accorded an equal weighting in any arrangement with Israel.

… James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.