Once upon a 19th century, famed Prussian general and military strategist Carl von Clausewitz wrote that “war is the continuation of politics by other means”.

Two hundred years later, Israel has put a new spin on the phrase with its current ceasefire-that-isn’t in the Gaza Strip. Were he alive today, von Clausewitz might very well detect the opportunity to observe that, in the case of Israel, “ceasefire is a continuation of war by other means”.

Indeed, Israel’s comportment in the aftermath of the truce which began in January has demonstrated a profound lack of interest in actually ceasing hostilities. Not only does Israel continue to kill Palestinians on a regular basis, pushing the official death toll closer to 50,000; but it has also refused to abandon occupation of the Philadelphi Corridor on the border between Gaza and Egypt.

The first phase of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza ended on Saturday, but the Israeli government has predictably stymied negotiation of the second phase. In Israel’s view, after all, agreements are made to be broken – which goes a good way in explaining why the much-promised

© Al Jazeera