The End of the War: Israel vs. Hamas’s Promise to End the War and the Decree of the Restraints
The recovery of the remains is a blow to Hamas, which hopes to exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners, an Israeli withdrawal and a lasting cease-fire. But it was also likely to increase pressure on Israel’s government to reach a deal to free dozens of hostages who are still believed to be alive.
At least 10 people were killed when an Israeli airstrike hit a school in Gaza City that was turned into a shelter. Another strike killed a mother and her five children in central Gaza.
The military said it was able to identify the remains of seven people. Metzger, Munder, Popplewell and Buchshtav had family members who were also abducted but freed during a November cease-fire.
Munder was taken captive in the farming community where he lived and his death was confirmed on Tuesday. It said he died “after enduring months of physical and mental torture.” Israeli authorities had previously determined that the other five were deceased.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the operation had been carried out inside a Hamas tunnel. There were no reports of Israeli or Palestinian casualties in the recovery operation.
LONSDORF is a man. So Blinken is here trying to push forward a proposal presented by mediators at the end of last week in Doha meant to bridge the final gaps between Israel and Hamas. Both Israel and Hamas seemed unenthusiastic about that bridging proposal in the days after it was announced last week. But last night, Blinken told reporters that Netanyahu had agreed to it, and now it was up to Hamas. We’ve seen this before. Just because America says that they have an agreement from Israel, it doesn’t mean that we’re hearing that from Israel. Netanyahu’s office did put out a statement last night after his talk with Blinken, but it did not mention agreeing to this bridging proposal, so that’s still unclear. Hamas has put out a statement saying that they want to end the war and cease-fire. But this new proposal caters to Netanyahu’s demands too much in their opinion on several key sticking points, and they blame him for obstructing the deal.
The militant group Hamas has accused the United States of trying to impose its will on them. Israel’s demand for lasting control over two strategic corridors in Gaza has been rejected by Hamas, which still appears to be wide gaps between the two sides.
The Hamas-led group killed over 1,200 people, many of them civilians, and took 250 other people hostage when they burst through Israel’s defenses on October 7. Over 100 hostages were released in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel during a weeklong cease-fire last year.
The Israeli military said they hit Hamas who had set up a command center inside the school and were planning attacks.
Interaction between Israel and Hamas During the Second Round of the G7-Galaxy Convergence, and the Palestinians in Gaza
The mediation is trying to finish a proposal in which Hamas would release all the hostages in return for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, an Israeli withdrawal from the territory and a lasting truce.
Blinken traveled to Egypt on Tuesday and was also expected to hold talks in Qatar. The two Arab countries have played a key role in mediating with Hamas.
CHANG. I am wondering in terms of public opinion how this latest news about the recovered bodies of these hostages – how that is impacting the way people in Israel are feeling about a possible cease-fire deal.
LONSDORF: So he met with leaders in both places. The agreement was brokered by Egypt and others, along with the U.S. You know, Ailsa, I’ll say all of this diplomacy has added urgency because of threats from Iran and its proxies to retaliate for an assassination on Iranian soil that Israel was widely blamed for. The feeling is that as long as a cease-fire in Gaza is a possibility, Iran will hold its fire. There is still a war going on in Gaza. More than 150 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since this new round of talks began last week. That’s adding to the more than 40,000 total who have been killed in Gaza according to health officials there. There is a lot of pressure to get something to work.
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