‘Not ever out of the woods’
While he says he’s hopeful, Frank Lowenstein, former U.S. special envoy for Middle East peace, cautioned that we’re still in the first phase of a ceasefire and “not ever out of the woods on these kinds of deals.”
As an example of what could go wrong, Lowenstein pointed to a 2014 ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. The battle lines were drawn, but there was confusion about where exactly they were placed, he said.
“A couple of Israeli soldiers wound up on the wrong side. Hamas killed them and the whole ceasefire blew up,” Lowenstein told CBC News Network.
“I think these guys need to be really, really vigilant about making sure everybody knows where they are supposed to be, so there are no big mistakes here.”
For this ceasefire to be different, there needs to be very clear maps with clearly defined boundaries, delineating block-by-block if necessary, he said. And there needs to be a buffer zone on either side of it, he added.
“It cannot be the case that they’re cutting it so close that a small miscalculation ends it,” he said.
