Media report
Israel continues to fight for hostages in Gaza – and would probably accept a two-month ceasefire to do so
Smoke rises from an Israeli rocket attack over Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip
© Mohammed Dahman / AP / DPA
Israel wants to rescue the remaining hostages from the Gaza Strip with a two-month ceasefire, according to a media report. But Hamas has other ideas.
After the terrorist attack by Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7th on areas in southern Israel, the terrorists are still holding 136 people in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli government figures.
A two-month ceasefire would be the most far-reaching offer of its kind made by the Israeli government to date. During a week-long ceasefire at the end of November, Hamas released 105 hostages. In return, Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners from its prisons.
Since then, Israel’s government has shown little willingness to make concessions for further hostage releases. Now that around 25 kidnapping victims are no longer believed to be alive, criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has increased. Last weekend, thousands of people demonstrated in Israel to force them to make more serious efforts to rescue hostages.
Hamas wants to release hostages after the end of the war
The offer of a two-month ceasefire does not envisage Israel ending the war, according to the report. Israel’s military would therefore simply withdraw from the population centers. The Palestinians who fled to the south of the Gaza Strip on the orders of the Israeli military would be able to return to the north. The Israeli proposal was approved by the War Cabinet ten days ago, wrote Axios.
Hamas had previously linked any new hostage releases to an end to the war. Egyptian and Qatari mediators have been trying for weeks to bridge the different demands. There is a three-step plan on the table that regulates the process of releasing hostages and cessation of hostilities. At the beginning of the week, US President Joe Biden’s Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk arrived in the region to hold talks in Cairo and Doha, according to information from US media.
In the attack on October 7th, the terrorists from the Gaza Strip killed 1,200 people. The attack triggered the Gaza war. Israel’s armed forces invaded the sealed-off coastal area after massive air strikes. The government’s stated goal is to destroy Hamas militarily and free the hostages.