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| Ceasefire... what ceasefire? |
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AS we went to press last night, the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was still uncertain. The
terror organisation claimed yesterday that at least 70 Palestinians had been killed since Wednesday and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, chairman of the far right Religious Zionism party, had threatened to leave Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government unless the prime minister agreed to “Israel’s return to the war to destroy Hamas”.
Inevitably, there are mixed emotions about any deal with Hamas. In the first instance, the organisation has shown so often in the past that it cannot be trusted. It is, after all, a terrorist group and one of Iran’s proxies. Only yesterday, Israel accused it of breaching the terms before the ceasefire had even been implemented. Israel may have all but wiped out the Hamas hierarchy, but plenty of young terrorists remain, hell-bent on murdering Israelis. The retaliatory war following the October 7 massacre has unfortunately spawned a new breed of terrorists. There is also the other problem of Gaza-based splinter terror groups taking their own action against the Jewish state. And what of the hostages still languishing in Gaza? Only three will be released immediately under the agreement. Surely their immediate freedom (or repatriation in the case of those who have not survived) should have been a prerequisite. It is inhumane that they and their families should be treated as pawns to achieve an endgame. As always, agreements with Hamas or other terror groups are as wafer thin as the paper on which they are drawn up. Will a ceasefire hold, if it has actually been accepted by Israel as you read this? It’s anyone’s guess, but it would be a brave person who bets on its longevity. There have been too many false dawns, but dangerously Hamas has far more to gain from this opportunity than Israel. It will have the opportunity to regroup and rearm, unless Israel is able stringently to control any possible entry points into Gaza. Israel retaining control of the so-called Philadelphi Corridor had proved to be one of the obstacles to the terms of the ceasefire, and is one such area of Gaza which seems vital for Israel to police. To read more on this story, subscribe to our new e-edition. Go to E-edition.jewishtelegraph.com.
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