DN's Emma Bouvin: The war would end this weekend
The night before Thursday brought four dead bodies from Gaza to Israel. Itzik Elgara, Ohad Yahalomi and Tsahi Idan were killed while held hostage by Hamas. Shlomo Mantzur was killed by terrorists on October 7 and his body was taken to Gaza, where it has been held ever since.
After the deceased was returned to Israel, over 600 Palestinian prisoners were released from Israeli prison. Some of them were convicted of murder and terrorist offenses, a large proportion was arrested in Gaza during the war. Many were in poor condition, a man returned in a coma, others depleted and amputated.
The exchange was the last In the first phase of the ceasefire. On Saturday, according to plan, it is time for phase two: then Israel will start to retreat from Gaza and all the remaining Israeli hostages will be released. The temporary ceasefire should be permanent: the war will end.
So it won't be.
Negotiations on the second phase would have actually started over two weeks ago, but instead did they first start at the end of this week. Both Israel and Hamas have during the first 42 days of the ceasefire accused each other of breaking the agreement And several times it has been close to the fragile peace being broken. It was especially close when Hamas sent the remains of the Bibas family to Israel and it turned out that they had sent over a dead Palestinian woman instead of her mother Shiri Bibas, along with the two little boys.
However, it seems to have been a mistake rather than a meant provocation. Israel has far better opportunities to identify dead bodies than is available in the ravaged gaza strip. But while it took for Hamas to find and bring home the right body, the demands of the extreme right in Israel grew to resume the fighting.
A majority of the Israelis is because the ceasefire enters the next phase. The United States – despite sometimes contradictory plays from its old president – is also determined to do so.
However, both the Israeli government and the terrorist group Hamas are ambivalent. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows that his coalition partner, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, will be the government of phase two to become reality. He has received a lifeline from opposition leader Yair Lapid, who has promised to save him in such a situation, but the question is whether he dares to trust it.
In addition, Netanyahus stated goals have always been that Hamas must be « wiped out ». Anyone who has followed Hama's unpleasant performances in connection with the hostage submissions can recently see that this has not happened.
Hamas, for his part, does not want to release power over Gaza, something all mediation partners believe must be done in order to reach phase two. The terrorist group also knows that the Israelis held hostage in Gaza is their only trump on hand. Having everyone over on a board, which the agreement stipulates, poses a risk.
At the same time we go Now into Ramadan, the holy month of the Muslims. In the broken Gaza, life has begun to sprout again in its places. Fruit dealers have been reached, goodies are sold for the festivities to come.
It benefits both sides to pull out on phase one – continued ceasefire and exchange of prisoners in smaller groups. It does not, however, benefit the hostage or their desperate relatives, nor the civilian residents of Gaza who just want sustainable peace.
Neither Hamas nor the Israeli government have cared so much about them so far, so it is unlikely that they will start now.
