Capitulating to the Imperative to Rescue Israeli Hostages

 

"A few minutes ago, I received the final word that all obstacles have been overcome and that the agreement is underway."

"Now they are working on the final technical wording."

"I want to congratulate Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu; he is responsible for the agreement."

Aryeh Deri, chairman, Israel's ultra-Orthodox Shas Party

"I fully expect that implementation will begin, as we said, on Sunday. Look, it's not exactly surprising that in a process in a negotiation, that has been this challenging this fraught, you may get a loose end."

"We're tying up that loose end as we speak; I've been on the phone, in one way or another, all morning with [U.S. National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa] Brett McGurk, with our Qatari friends, and I am very confident this is moving forward."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken

This photo provided by the Israeli Government Press Office shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, centre, with his security cabinet in Jerusalem to vote on a ceasefire deal after confirming an agreement had been reached that would pause the 15-month war with Hamas in Gaza. (Koby Gideon/Israeli Government Press Office/The Associated Press)

Earlier in the day on Thursday, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office revealed that Hamas had reneged on parts of the ceasefire agreement that had been announced on Wednesday; Hamas making an effort to extort last-minute concessions on a ceasefire agreement that would halt Israel's bombing of Hamas installations in Gaza, while returning up to a thousand Palestinian prisoners currently held in Israeli prisons for criminal terrorist activities in exchange for Israeli and foreign hostages left in Hamas hands.

The Axios news outlet cited an American government source confirming that the final disputes setting the ceasefire-for-hostages-and-terrorists-release agreement had been "resolved, and the agreement is now done". The agreement is now scheduled to be greenlit  Friday morning following a vote in the full cabinet. The agreement is set to go into effect on Sunday. The White House stated it is confident the ceasefire could yet be implemented.

The Palestinian Hamas organization was seen by Israeli negotiators as attempting to change the rules of the agreement, backtracking parts of the deal "in an effort to extort last-minute concessions". Hamas, a terrorist organization, feels entitled in its conflict with Israel, to appear the underdog, yet it negotiates as though it scents victory in its ongoing campaign to discredit the Jewish State internationally while continuing to pose a threat through continued deadly attacks, even while its position has changed from one of strength of personnel and military hardware to one of critical losses of both under Israel's Gaza invasion and destruction of its weapons caches and elite commanders.

Thirty-three named hostages both living and dead carved out of the 98 still held by Hamas in Gaza over a period 468 days -- since thousands of terrorists stormed southern Israel farming communities on October 7, 2023, to slaughter 1,200 Israelis, rape countless girls and women, burn entire families in their homes, commit sadistic acts of torture and dismemberment, killing infants to the elderly -- are now slated to be freed, to return to their families in Israel.

 

In exchange, up to a thousand Palestinians, found guilty of crimes are to be freed from Israeli prisons. Among the 33 Israelis, there are nine ill and wounded hostages to be released in exchange for the release of 110 Palestinians in prison serving life sentences. A withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces from the critical Philadelphi Corridor (along which weapons for Hamas were delivered from Egypt to Gaza) was a new demand that Hamas attempted to write into the agreement. PM Netanyahu "strongly insisted" the Hamas additional request be dropped.

The Philadelphi corridor has been implicated in past smuggling of arms and personnel into Gaza, and as such represents a need for Israeli troops to be present in the sensitive zone, since it was "crucial to stop weapons smuggling", as asserted by Mr. Netanyahu.

Furthermore the Religious Zionism Party signalled it would consider exiting the coalition with its seven Knesset members over the ceasefire deal. A member of Mr. Netanyahu's Likud Party, Israeli Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism announced his intention to resign "if there is a withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor [before the war goals are achieved], or if we do not return to fighting to achieve the war goals". 

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich demanded a commitment to resuming the war's intention to fully dismantle Hamas and secure release of all hostages following this first phase; a condition for his party's continued presence in the government coalition. To do otherwise is to allow Hamas to regroup, recruit, rearm and get on with its promise to continue to commit additional October 7 atrocities, as long as it takes to destroy Israel.

An Israeli woman holds a candle during a pro-ceasefire agreement rally in Jerusalem late Thursday. The long-awaited agreement would take effect Sunday and involve the initial exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. (John Wessels/AFP/Getty Images)