The first sign of hope after the armed conflict in Gaza is turning into a war of nerves: the release of the first large group of Israeli hostages and the associated ceasefire announced for Thursday have been postponed. Israel’s National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi announced late at night that it would not begin “before Friday” – and in order to calm the extremely tense minds a little, he also assured that everything else would continue to proceed “according to the original agreement.” The postponement, Israeli government sources as well as the Qatari mediators assure, is solely for “logistical reasons”. On Thursday afternoon, Qatari mediators said the ceasefire would begin at 7 a.m. on Friday.
The exact background remains obscure. Among other things, it is pointed out that, contrary to the original opinion, both Israel and Hamas would still have to sign a document to ratify the agreement. This is probably about guarantees that the agreements will be adhered to. Apparently there are still uncertainties regarding the list of names submitted by Hamas of the 50 hostages who are to be released from the group of around 240 abducted people. One thing is clear: until the very end, there was still fighting and tugging behind the scenes. It is a struggle that has put an enormous strain on the strength of everyone involved for weeks.
Hamas has demanded a one-month ceasefire and no ground offensive
An anonymous “senior official” from the US government gave an insight into how this agreement was drawn up and what hurdles had to be overcome again and again during a background discussion in Washington, which is now being reported in detail in the Israeli media. Accordingly, the government in Qatar, where the exiled leadership of Hamas resides, offered itself to the Americans as a mediator in the hostage issue in the first days of the war. US President Joe Biden quickly made the issue a top priority in the midst of the chaos of war.
A negotiating group operating in strict secrecy was formed in Doha, which included CIA chief William Burns from the American side and Mossad chief David Barnea from Israel. The release of two female hostages with US passports on October 20th and two Israeli senior women two days later were seen as a “test run”. After that, however, everything came to a standstill. Among other things, Hamas is said to have initially demanded a one-month ceasefire or an assurance that there would be no Israeli ground offensive. So there was ups and downs until the agreed agreement was finally on the table – with an initial four-day ceasefire and a gradual exchange of 50 abducted Israeli women and children for 150 Palestinian women and minors who were released from Israeli custody.
All Hamas leaders ‘doomed to die’, Israeli defense minister says
Hamas seems content with this for now. Their leader Jahia Sinwar from Gaza can now point to the fact that he has wrested prisoners from Israel in exchange for hostages in the old logic of the conflict. He is also likely to see the high number of hostages remaining in his hands as a kind of reassurance as the war progresses – and so hope to be able to save himself in a long-term ceasefire at some point.
The statements from Israel contradict this. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to leave no doubt that after the exchange, fighting will resume immediately until the war goal is achieved: the destruction of Hamas. His Defense Minister Joav Gallant recently emphasized once again that all Hamas leaders, including the exiles in Qatar, are “doomed to die.”
As long as the agreement is not officially in force, fighting will continue with great intensity on all sides. Israel’s air force announced on Thursday that 300 targets in the Gaza Strip had been attacked in one day alone. The director of Al-Shifa Hospital was also captured. Rockets continued to be fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip. The heaviest shelling since the start of the war was reported from Lebanon, with a volley of up to 50 rockets.
One of the relatives revealed on Israeli army radio on Thursday morning what the war of nerves over the release means for the families of the hostages. “Until something really happens, I’m not prepared to rejoice prematurely,” said Inbar Goldstein. “Until the last hostage returns to Israel, we will all be held captive by Hamas.”