Gaza cotton arrest ends soon-the next challenges are waiting
Gaza cotton arrest ends soon-the next challenges are waiting
It was unlikely from the start. For months, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to have a Agreement to sign a ceasefire with Hamas, although he repeatedly emphasized that he hostage from Gaza. Even the ongoing pressure of tens of thousands of demonstrators could not bring him to the negotiating table.
ceasefire agreement achieved
But the combined pressure of the outgoing and the future US President 42-day ceasefire. This should enable the release of 33 Israeli hostages in an exchange for more than 1,700 Palestinian prisoners and an aid performance for Gaza. Ultimately, 38 hostages were released over 39 days.
new negotiation framework
The agreement that was ultimately signed was essentially the same agreement, which had been on the table for almost a year. The last, 42nd day of this ceasefire falls on a Saturday. The agreement stipulates that the ceasefire can be maintained as long as negotiations take place. So it could go on. But while the first phase of negotiations was already challenging, everything that is now will be much more difficult.
second phase of negotiations
The second phase of a ceasefire that is supposed to take another 42 days would mean the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the release of all still living hostages by Hamas - estimated 24 men - in exchange for other Palestinian prisoners and those arrested. But the talks about the next steps have just started, and Netanyahu has increasingly made it clear that he has no interest in this framework.
resistance to a peace plan
The second phase would mean declaration that the war is over. "This will never happen," CNN quotes an Israeli source. Netanyahu made the deadline on February 3 to send a negotiation team and instead decided to visit US President Donald Trump in Washington. Shortly before the end, he announced that he will send a team to Cairo - but without the main negotiator, his close political ally, the Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer.
continuation of the military presence
An Israeli civil servant said that the military would fill the decisive border between Gaza and Egypt, known as the Philadelphi corridor, even after the first phase of the ceasefire. According to the conditions of a difficult -to -grapping second phase, Israel should begin with the withdrawal at this border on this day and conclude within eight days, according to Hamas.
international diplomacy
The US special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, expressed hope of reaching an extension of the first phase to reach the second phase negotiate.
The Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on a Thursday in conversation with his Czech counterpart that one would seek the release of all hostages. However, he did not mention that there was already a legal framework for this that was agreed in the capital of Katar in January.
Hamas ’patience is put to the test
Hamas has repeatedly known for the ceasefire. Despite an incident in which the group transmitted the body of an unknown Palestinian woman to Israel instead of Shiri Bibas - according to her own statement - she largely complied with the agreement. But the big question remains unanswered: will she disarm and leave Gaza?
future prospects for gaza
The leaders of Hamas, scattered between Gaza and the region, are alternately optimistic and conciliatory - but have consistently refused to comment on the question of disarmament. Osama Hamdan, a member of the group's political office, said in Qatar last week: "Hamas was not wiped out by the war. Anyone whoever steps on Israel's position (in Gaza) is treated like Israel." He emphasized that Hamas "has the opportunity to expand".
Another statement came from Husam Badran, another official member of the political office, who said on Wednesday that the group was ready to withdraw from the Gazas administration. "Our only condition is that this remains an internal Palestinian affair - we will not allow any regional or international party to interferes," he said Al Arabiya. "As long as there is a national consensus, Hamas will not be involved in the government."
netanyahus unresolved questions
Netanyahu continues to refuse to lay too open what his vision looks like for Gaza's future. He only expresses that he supports Trump's plan for "another gaza", which is the emigration of all 2.1 million Palestinians from the area and the construction of a Xanadu--like golf state . He is convinced that neither the Palestinian authority nor should the Palestinian authority or Hamas Gaza rule.
Despite all the offensive aspects, Trump's plan could use a vacuum in leadership that is not only from Netanyahu, but also in the region. Arab leader work eagerly to develop your own vision for reconstruction gazas- while they allow the Palestinians to stay.
future developments in Gaza
An unlimited extension of the first phase would accommodate an Israeli Prime Minister, whose extremist ministers intend to bomb Gaza again and to rebuild the Jewish settlements that were displaced 20 years ago. However, this does not mean that the war in Gaza is imminent. "There is no wish to spark the war again," said the Israeli source. "However, there is an endeavor to find ahead with the USA."
The question in the coming hours and days will be whether Hamas would be willing to give up her most important negotiating asset - the hostages - without any promise for the end of the war. "Netanyahu's plan to extend the first phase to released more hostages without commitment to the end of the war and to withdraw the Israeli troops from Gaza," Hamas was completely rejected, "said the former long -term peace activist Gershon Baskin on Monday.
The leaders of Hamas within Gazas are "increasingly independent of the leaders outside of Gazas". These leaders living in exile are more willing to resume the war, "in full awareness that their influence is the life of the remaining hostages". Those within Gazas "will not hesitate to take revenge on the hostages when the fights flare up again," he warned. "The war is over, even if Netanyahu does not recognize it. The alternatives to Hamas will be the result of political decisions and no further struggles."
Kareem Khadder and Zeena Saifi contributed to this report.