‘As I promised, we changed the face of the Middle East and, as a result, Hamas remains defeated and isolated,’ declared the Prime Minister of Israel in a televised speech
The Israeli Prime Minister, , promised this Saturday (18) to bring back “all hostages” held by the , on the eve of the entry into force of a truce between the Palestinian terrorist movement, after 15 months of war. It is “a provisional ceasefire” and “if necessary, we reserve the right to resume the war with American support”, and “with more strength”, Netanyahu said in a televised speech.
The truce should come into force on Sunday at 8:30 am (3:30 am in Brasília), one day before the Republican’s inauguration. as American president, reported Qatar, which mediated the agreement together with Egypt and the United States. “As I promised, we changed the face of the Middle East and, as a result, Hamas remains defeated and isolated,” declared Netanyahu, who also reiterated his promise to rescue “all hostages”.
In the October 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war in Gaza, Hamas terrorists captured 251 people in southern Israel, 94 of whom remain held in Gaza, including 34 whom the Israeli army declared dead.
Truce
The ceasefire agreement includes three phases. In the first, lasting six weeks, the fighting must cease, and 33 Israeli hostages will be released. Israel, in return, will release 737 Palestinian prisoners, according to the Israeli Ministry of Justice. Egypt reported that “more than 1,890 Palestinian prisoners” will be released in this first phase.
The agreement, announced on Wednesday by mediators, seeks to put “a definitive end to the war” that has devastated Palestinian territory, Qatar highlighted. It must also allow the mass entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, governed by Hamas since 2007.
Since the start of the war, only one truce had been reached, lasting a week, at the end of November 2023. On that occasion, 105 Israeli hostages were exchanged for 240 Palestinian prisoners. The Israeli government approved the agreement in the early hours of Saturday, after approval by Hamas, considered a “terrorist” organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
The Israeli Executive announced that some hostages would be released on Sunday, but without specifying the number. Netanyahu demanded to receive the list of hostages who would be released that day before proceeding with the first prisoner exchange.
A military official said the release will take place at three points on Israel’s border with Gaza, where the hostages will be treated by doctors and then transferred to hospitals. According to sources close to Hamas, the first group of hostages released will include three Israeli women.
In turn, Israel drew up a list of 95 Palestinian prisoners who could be released as early as Sunday, the majority of whom were women and minors arrested after October 7th. Among the Palestinian prisoners included in the agreement is Zakaria al Zubeidi, former leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of the Fatah party, led by President Mahmud Abbas.
Among the 33 hostages who will be released in the first phase are two French-Israelis, Ofer Kalderon, 54, and Ohad Yahalomi, 50, according to the French government. “It’s the moment we’ve been waiting for. I hope to see my grandfather return home, standing, alive,” said Daniel Lifshitz, grandson of Oded Lifshitz, 84, kidnapped on the Nir Oz kibbutz.
The new agreement, sealed after three months of indirect negotiations, also foresees “the entry of 600 trucks daily into the Strip, of which 50 are fuel,” said Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.
“Israel will not prevent humanitarian aid from entering” Gaza, assured UN Secretary-General António Guterres, admitting that the distribution of this aid across the Palestinian territory will be “complex”. This Saturday, Trump told NBC that he spoke to Netanyahu and told him that the war “must end”. “We want it to end, but we must continue doing whatever is necessary”, he indicated.
Bombings continue
Waiting for the beginning of the truce, the Israeli Army continued bombing Gaza. More than 120 people died this Wednesday, emergency services said. In the Gaza Strip, devastated by Israeli air strikes and a ground offensive in retaliation for the October 7 attack, the displaced — the vast majority of the approximately 2.4 million Palestinians — are preparing to return to their homes.
On the Israeli side, the October 7 attack left 1,210 people dead, most of them civilians, according to a survey based on official data. In Israel’s air and land offensive in Gaza, at least 46,899 people died, most of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas Ministry of Health considered reliable by the UN.
In addition to the release of hostages, the first phase of the agreement includes, according to US President Joe Biden, “a total ceasefire”, the Israeli withdrawal from densely populated areas of Gaza and an increase in humanitarian aid.
During the first phase, the modalities of the second will be negotiated, which should allow the release of the last hostages, before the third and final phase, dedicated to the reconstruction of Gaza and the return of the bodies of hostages killed in captivity.
*With information from AFP
Posted by Carolina Ferreira
