The Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, says it has agreed to a four-day humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip. The movement says the truce agreement, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, includes the exchange of Israeli captives with Palestinian prisoners held by the regime.
Hamas announced that 50 Israeli captives were to be released in exchange for the freedom of 150 Palestinian women and children.
Under the agreement, hundreds of trucks of humanitarian aid, including fuel and medicine, will be brought to all areas of the Gaza Strip.
The deal, mediated by Qatar, was set come into effect on Thursday but has reportedly been delayed to Friday.
During the truce, the Israeli regime is to refrain from arresting or attacking anyone all across the besieged Palestinian territory.
Air traffic will completely stop during the truce in the south of the Gaza Strip. In the north, however, air traffic will stop for six hours a day.
I think the concept is understood by all the Palestinian people, but now, it is Israel’s turn to follow the steps, in the end, we all know that the Israelis never abided by any agreement.
Palestinian Citizen
This will be significant for humanitarian aid because it will allow for a large number of humanitarian aid trucks and convoys to enter the Gaza Strip. But I must add that the number of humanitarian aid, or the amount of that aid, that's going to be allowed in is nowhere close to what was the regular, let's say, flow of humanitarian aid.
Anas Iqtait, Lecturer, Australian National University
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement says captive Israeli soldier will not be freed until all Palestinian inmates are released from the Yel Aviv regime’s jails.
Israel's cabinet has also voted in favor of the agreement. The war cabinet has reportedly been split on the issue for weeks.
Some hard-line figures believe that Israel's relentless bombing of the Gaza Strip was the best way to weaken Hamas and free the captives.
Others believe that Israel must get what it can now, no matter how unsatisfactory it may be.
Israel is failing militarily and that's why it's in agony and it wants a ceasefire to reset because its ground invading forces are failing on the ground.
Rasha Reslan, Journalist
The agreement would reflect a change of course by Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his war cabinet.
At the beginning of the war, Netanyahu announced that he was pursuing two main objectives from the war.
The regime was trying to isolate and eliminate Hamas by destroying its military and governing capabilities.
Netanyahu had also promised to protect Israel from Gaza-based threats and attacks. Furthermore, he said his cabinet would free the captives without compromising its stance on the Hamas resistance movement.
However, none of those objectives have been realized.
By calling up 350,000 reservists for the occupation forces, Israel has taken those people out of the traditional labor market, drastically impacting the economy.
It is true that Hamas has suffered some casualties, but its military capabilities, including its network of bunkers and tunnels, as well as its ability to launch retaliatory attacks on Israeli forces have largely been left untouched.
Hamas and the resistance ideology is deeply rooted in the hearts and minds of the Palestinian people in Gaza. Tel Aviv had to abandon its uncompromising stance with regard to the captives and was ultimately forced to strike a deal with Hamas in order to secure their release.
Well absolutely, I don't think that the Israelis would have accepted to go into this kind of a truce without being dealt devastating blows by the resistance and by Hamas. Of course the Israelis found themselves unable to achieve anything on ground and they saw that this is a good thing for them to do. They are not doing it for the sake of humanity.
Ibrahim Al-Moussawi, Lebanese MP
We can see from their statements in the Israeli Knesset that any truce would be a concession and that proves that they have achieved nothing. But that's not enough. Despite the truth, all forms of resistance must continue.
Ogarite Dandache, Commentator
Evidence is already mounting of the war’s destructive impact on Israel’s economy.
Netanyahu's shift may have been a consequence of his personal encounter with the families of the captives held by the resistance after weeks of having refused to meet them.
Netanyahu and his Likud party have lost the trust and confidence of most voters.
Gather here in request, that the one to be blamed is our Prime Minister, that he has to go down and leave his office and let another government to rule in Israel and try to make it better.
Anti Netanyahu Protest, Tel Aviv
Internationally, the regime has also come under immense pressure. Thousands of people have held countless rallies against the Israeli regime, and it's blockade of Gaza, amid calls for Netanyahu to be brought before the International Criminal Court and held accountable for the growing genocide in Gaza.
=======================================================================================================================
Hamas chief hails 'political and military victory', thanks Iran
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (L) shakes hands with Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in Doha, Qatar on November 23, 2023. (Photo by Iran Foreign Ministry)
The head of the political bureau of Hamas has appreciated the Islamic Republic for its strong support for the Palestinian people and resistance during the recent Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, commending the latest ceasefire as a “political and military” victory for the resistance front.
Ismail Haniyeh made the remarks in a meeting with Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in the Qatari capital of Doha on Thursday, ahead of a landmark four-day truce that will see the exchange of captives and the delivery of relief aid to the Gaza Strip after Israel’s brutal onslaught on the besieged territory.
Haniyeh expressed his appreciation for the “firm support of the Iranian leadership, the president, the government and the people of Iran,” as well as the “active diplomatic support of the Iranian minister of foreign affairs for the Palestinian issue and its people, especially during the ongoing Israeli war against Gaza.”
The Hamas chief hailed as “honorable” the support of the resistance movements in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria to their brothers and sisters in Gaza, noting that it bears a “clear” message to the Zionist regime and the United States.
Pointing to various dimensions of the Israeli regime’s war crimes against the people in Gaza, its hospitals and urban infrastructure, Haniyeh said the United States was the “main axis” of the Israeli war on Gaza.
“Despite the initial opposition to the ceasefire, the United States, understanding the realities of the battlefield, was finally forced to surrender to the will of the Palestinian people and the will of the world nations and the positive vote of 120 countries to the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly for a ceasefire with Hamas, which shows the US dominance over the international order has diminished.”
The head of the political bureau of Hamas thanked the Islamic Republic of Iran for its special efforts and support in the realization of the temporary ceasefire, saying, “This is a political victory that was achieved based on the victory of the resistance in the field and the enemy failed in achieving its goals except for the killing of women and children and citizens and destroying their houses.”
For every Israeli captive released, there will be three Palestinian prisoners released, namely women and children.
Amir-Abdollahian, for his part, expressed his felicitations on the resistance, resilience and victory of the Palestinian people and the residents of Gaza during the Israeli aggression on Gaza.
“The consequences of Operation al-Aqsa Storm shook the world,” the top Iranian diplomat said. “Although the human losses of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip were high, bitter and unfortunate, the dimensions of victory and achievement of the Palestinian nation were much bigger and tipped the strategic balance in different dimensions in favor of Palestine and the detriment of the usurping Zionist regime.”
Despite more than a month and a half of aggression and brutal war and killing and injuring tens of thousands Palestinian citizens, the US and the Israeli regime failed to achieve the least in the military field and were forced to negotiate indirectly with Hamas for a ceasefire and the release of their prisoners,” Amir-Abdollahian stressed.
Praising the honorable and courageous resistance of the people in Gaza and its resistance groups against Israel’s 47-day brutal aggression, Amir-Abdollahian underlined the Islamic Republic’s absolute determination to continue supporting the Palestinian people and resistance in the political and international fields.
Hamas says it has frustrated the Israeli enemy
The Israeli regime launched the war on Gaza on October 7 following the large-scale operation by the territory's resistance groups, which killed some 1,200 Israeli settlers and military forces and led to the captivity of hundreds more.
Israel has killed more than 14,800 people, including over 6,150 children, in Gaza since October 7.
The Qatari-mediated truce took effect at 7:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Friday. As part of the agreement, 13 Israeli captives in Gaza are due to be freed at 4:00 p.m. (1400 GMT), followed by a number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
Under the terms of the agreement, for every Israeli captive released, there will be three Palestinian prisoners released, namely women and children. Two hundred aid trucks that include medical supplies for the entire Gaza Strip will also be allowed in during the four-day truce.
=======================================================================================================================
