GAZA: Israel and Hamas entered a four-day pause in fighting with the Palestinian group releasing a first group of hostages later in the day and increased aid to flow into the besieged Gaza Strip, the first such break in a nearly seven-week-old war.
A number of Palestinians are also being released from Israeli jails later in the day as part of the ceasefire.
The move has been welcomed by world leaders as well as many analysts.
“It’s very good news because it initiates the process of a ceasefire. It breaks two Israeli taboos, which were held by Netanyahu. The first was that there will never be any ceasefire… and that he will bring the Israeli prisoners only by force,” Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary General and Co-founder of the Palestinian National Initiative, told CGTN.
“Now, he [has] had to accept an exchange of prisoners, something that he denied he would do in the past. And 50 Israeli children and women will be released and 150 Palestinian children and women also will be released.”
Israel’s ‘three war crimes’
Barghouti said it is “very likely” the pause might be extended “because it is clear that the Israeli military operation is not succeeding.”
He said that world can see the “three war crimes that Israel is committing – genocide, collective punishment and ethnic cleansing,” and this has tested many of the world leaders’ support for Israel, including President Biden.
An Israeli military Apache helicopter flies over the Israeli side, during the temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in southern Israel. /Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
He also highlighted that the families of other Israeli prisoners are now exercising greater pressure.
“They see that 50 will be released. They want all the rest of them to be released, and that is achievable. If Israel accepts to release all the 7,200 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 children that they are holding in their jails,” added the former Palestinian unity government minister.
‘Hamas turned Gaza into one big military bunker’
Danny Ayalon, former Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister and the country’s ambassador to the United States between 2002 and 2006, however, laid the blame squarely on Hamas.
“We left Gaza in 2005, 2007. Hamas took over and they have since turned Gaza into one big military bunker of terrorist war crimes that they have perpetrated, aiming at our own civilian population and hiding behind their own,” alleged the former minister.
He said that the underlying humanitarian issues stem from Hamas not wanting to surrender, and keeping the hostages, including infants and the elderly, in effect holding “two million people of Gaza hostage.”
A man takes a picture of an installation set up in Tel Aviv for people taken hostage by Hama, hours after the start of a four-day truce in battles between Israel and Hamas. /Jack Guez/AFP
He believes that if Hamas surrenders and disarms, the resolution of the broader problem is likely.
“No country would allow Hamas, a terrorist organization, to be on its border, creating an imminent threat on a constant basis. We would like to see a peaceful Palestinian leadership that believes in coexistence,” stressed Ayalon.
“This may take time, but this cannot happen before Hamas is ousted off the Gaza Strip. The entire international community should just come up against Hamas and eradicate it just as they did and are still with ISIS,” he added.
Qatar ‘holds the most influence over Hamas’
Ayalon acknowledged that the Qatari government, having mediated the truce deal, “holds the most influence and leverage over Hamas,” so if the Gulf emirate facilitates the “safe exit” of Hamas leaders then Israel will allow it “although they are all murderers.”
The key condition would be that Hamas leaves Gaza alone, and if Qatar accepts them, there would be a willingness to work towards future peace.
Some analysts are seeing the current truce deal as a step towards longer lasting peace, and Barghouti believes it is a possibility.
“They should do that because the continuation of this war is a continuation of massacres against Palestinians,” said the Palestinian leader. “So far, we have lost more than 14,700 Palestinians, including not less than 7,000 children, and there are 9,000 others who are missing so the number of casualties will increase.
“There are about 35,000 Palestinians already injured, and many of them could die because of lack of treatment and lack of proper medical care. So it is essential now to impose a ceasefire to stop this terrible war. Nobody is safe today in Gaza. Every place is bombarded. 60 percent of all homes have been destroyed, it’s one massacre after the other.”
Muslim Palestinians hold Friday prayers, amid a temporary truce in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, in Jerusalem. /Ammar Awad/Reuters
‘True ceasefire’ needed
Barghouti also warned of the situation on the ground. He said Israel has allowed only a limited number of aid trucks, approximately 1,200 to 1,300, containing aid but no fuel, which he says is insufficient compared to the 24,000 trucks needed by Gaza for essentials like fuel, food, electricity, and water.
He highlighted that the scarcity of clean water poses a severe risk of outbreaks, including diseases like typhoid, dysentery, cholera, and potentially measles due to Israel’s restrictions on vaccination programs.
The Israeli army has already targeted 25 out of 36 hospitals, including vital facilities like Al Shifa Hospital, the largest in Palestine, he said. This destructive approach has significantly undermined the medical care system, leaving patients without proper care. Barghouti urged for more aid to be allowed in because “200 trucks a day is not enough, but it’s better than nothing.”
He said what we need is a “true ceasefire” to end the suffering of the people of Gaza.
Ayalon also welcomed the four-day truce saying, “This is news in the right direction because Israel will abide by it. We’d very much like to see all our hostages, elderly people and toddlers and babies. It’s inhuman to just keep them.
“The fact that we even needed to negotiate for that is a real stain on the Palestinian people. But we are dealing with a murderous organization, so we take what we need. Human suffering is what we need to alleviate in the most urgent way,” he added.
