2023-11-26 21:00:31
Innsbruck (OTS) – Most recently, dozens of hostages were released by Hamas as part of a ceasefire, including women and children from Israel. From Tuesday it will become clear whether the agreement was just a reprieve or might mean more.
The nightmare is over for dozens of hostages who were in the hands of Hamas terrorists for seven weeks or more. They were handed over to the Red Cross in recent days and taken to Israeli clinics as part of the agreement brokered by Qatar and the USA, under which 50 Israeli hostages are to be released in return for 150 Palestinian prisoners. The released Israeli hostages are children and women who were kidnapped in Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, while another 1,200 Israelis were often brutally murdered. Among others, several Thai citizens and a four-year-old US citizen have been released so far. For the majority of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas, the nightmare is not yet over. Not even for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. The humanitarian catastrophe in the largely bombed Gaza Strip has long since assumed dramatic proportions. The agreed ceasefire is initially valid until Tuesday morning. If more hostages are released, it might be extended for up to ten days, Qatar said.
The fact that both sides have adhered to the agreements so far gives at least a little hope. The crucial question now is whether the agreement was just a brief reprieve or whether it might really be the beginning of the end of the war. The fact that the agreement, which is initially valid for four days, came regarding is thanks not only to the Emirate of Qatar and the USA but also to the relatives of the hostages, who put great pressure on the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. For them, Israel’s most important goal must be less retribution and more the freeing of the hostages. There was great resistance to the deal right up to the end, especially among the right-wing fringe of the government in Jerusalem.
How things will continue from Tuesday is still unclear. Not only Prime Minister Netanyahu has made it clear several times that the war will continue. One thing is clear: Israel cannot allow Hamas terror to return following the horror of October 7th. But eternal war cannot be a solution. It is regarding a sustainable peace order in the Middle East that enables both Israelis and Palestinians to live in dignity and security.
The Oslo Agreement laid the foundation for a two-state solution 30 years ago. Since then, the agreement has been dismantled as much as possible. And the narrative of the insolvability of the conflict is told. But anyone who declares peace impossible is erasing the future.
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