Ceasefire
For now, and it may uphold
Last January 15th, HAMAS and Israel finally reached an agreement for a ceasefire in the 15 month long war. It left more than forty-six thousand dead Palestinians.
Source: Geopolitics Live
The ceasefire was announced on January 15th, Qatar’s Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, mentioned. By then, the Israeli army calculated that ninety four hostages were still being held by HAMAS, with thirty four of them already dead.
Palestinian civilians went out to the streets to celebrate the ceasefire on Sunday, January 19th. Others went to visit the graves of their beloved ones. The ceasefire came into effect at 11:15, local hour. The ceasefire announcement prompted the return of displaced people home.
Fuente: Global Resistance News
The ceasefire comes after weeks of negotiation at Doha, Qatar. However, the fate of sixty hostages is unknown. Most of the alive hostages were captured in the Tribe of Nova music festival, or in the Nir Oz kibbutz.
On October 7th, 2023, HAMAS leaded an attack against southern Israel and took two hundred and fifty one hostages. One hundred and seventeen hostages were released on late November 2023, the only truce in the conflict. Forty corpses were repatriated also. After December 1st, 2023, only seven hostages were released in Israeli army operations. Mass destruction is widespread. Sixty-nine per cent of gazan structures have been damaged or destroyed.
Source: NotiKaos
The ceasefire promises the release of hostages, as well of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. It also prompts the return of displaced. In the first phase, thirty three hostages would return alive from Gaza, in exchange of Palestinian prisoners. The hostages will mainly be children, old people and women. It will last forty-two days, and besides the ceasefire, Israeli forces will withdraw east, far from populated zones, including the Egypt bordering city of Rafah. Other alive hostages shall be released in a hypothetical second phase. In a third phase, the corpses of dead hostages will be repatriated. A key point in the negotiation was about the Israeli withdrawal and its presence in the Philadelphia corridor. On both, second and third phase, HAMAS and Israel will negotiate the exit from the Philadelphia corridor.
Among the allegedly alive hostages are fifty three Israelis, six Thais and a Nepali. Twenty two of them have double nationality. Shall the blockade of Gaza continue, reconstruction will take more than three hundred and fifty years. Israel claimed to have killed more than seventeen thousand HAMAS militants.
US President Joe Biden mentioned that the ceasefire would remain as long as Israel and HAMAS respect it. Israeli Foreign Minister, Guideon Saar, described it as a “painful agreement”, because Israel will have “to release dangerous terrorists and killers” in exchange for the Israeli hostages.
The families of the hostages welcomed the news. In Gaza, people celebrated and went to clean the streets. Some of them mentioned they didn’t expect surviving to see a ceasefire. HAMAS militants paraded themselves in Khan Younis to celebrate.
“All resistance fighters remain despite him (Benjamin Nethanyahu)”, a HAMAS militant told Reuters.
Israel is now focusing on the West Bank. The IDF launched an operation there after the arrival of Donald Trump to the White House. Israel shall withdraw from Gaza, and if it aims to stick to the agreement, it will withdraw the blockade. More hostages will be released and returned home in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
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Palestinians returned to Gaza after a ceasefire implementation. Also some hostages were returned home, and some others are expected to go back, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Bodies were also returned to Israeli territory. The IDF will also withdraw from certain points. Some hostages are still being held by HAMAS.
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