JERUSALEM (AP) As the first significant indication of improvement in the region since the war started more than a year ago, the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire was a relief to many people around the Middle East.
However, the announcement seemed simply to usher in a newer, grimmer era of the struggle in Gaza for Palestinians living there and the relatives of captives detained there. For many, it represented yet another lost chance to put an end to the conflict that has raged for almost 14 months.
Palestinians had hoped that a truce in Gaza would be part of any ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah. Meanwhile, the families of those abducted during the October 2023 invasion of southern Israel by Hamas-led terrorists demanded that the deal include the return of their loved ones. Rather, the truce was limited to the conflict in Lebanon alone.
According to Rubi Chen, whose son Itay Chen was kidnapped from an Israeli military installation, “we feel that this is a missed opportunity to tie in the hostages in this agreement that was signed today.”
The two wars have been very different, despite their close ties. Israel declared its intention in Lebanon to expel Hezbollah from the common border and put an end to the militant organization’s attacks into northern Israel. That is the goal of the truce that went into force on Wednesday.
Israel’s objectives in Gaza are more expansive. Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, is certain that Israel maintain long-term authority over portions of the region and that Hamas be totally annihilated. Despite months of negotiations, Netanyahu has neither backed down from his demands or persuaded Hamas to release the detainees on those conditions.
Palestinians in Gaza must endure more suffering as a result of an Israeli war that has destroyed a large portion of the region and forced nearly all of its residents to flee their homes. As the second winter of the war brings harsh rains and flooding, hundreds of thousands of people are living in filthy tent camps and going hungry.
In one location, they consent to a ceasefire, but not in another? Ahlam Abu Shalabi, who was living in a tent in the center of Gaza, prayed for mercy for the women, children, and the elderly. Now that winter has arrived, everyone is drowning.
Palestinians accept that the fighting will go on.
When militants struck Israel from Gaza on October 7, 2023, they killed over 1,200 people and took about 250 hostage, sparking the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Over 44,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s retaliatory offensive, which has devastated Palestinian territory, according to local health officials. More than half of the deceased are women and children, according to the officials, who do not differentiate between fighters and civilians in their count.
A day after the Hamas strike, Hezbollah launched an offensive against Israel in support of the Palestinian militant organization. Since then, the two sides have been exchanging nearly daily bombardments. Israel killed numerous Hezbollah commanders two months ago as it increased its shelling of southern Lebanon and launched a physical invasion, relocating thousands of troops to its northern border.
As Netanyahu declared the ceasefire in Lebanon on Tuesday, Palestinians now worry that Israel’s military may shift its entire attention back to Gaza.
According to Mamdouh Younis, a displaced man living in a tent camp in central Gaza, there will be increased pressure on Gaza. He claimed that Netanyahu may now take advantage of Gaza’s isolation from all of the arenas that once supported it, particularly the front in Lebanon.
In the north of Gaza, where a two-month offensive has shut off most aid and led experts to warn that hunger may be on the horizon, Israeli troops are already involved in fierce battle. Dozens are frequently killed by strikes throughout the region.
Hezbollah retracted its long-standing stance that it would not cease its border barrages unless Israel ended the war in Gaza by agreeing to the ceasefire agreement.
Tariq Kenney Shawa, a U.S. policy scholar at the Palestinian think tank Al-Shabaka, stated that this could have a psychological effect since it will solidify the perception that Palestinians in Gaza are the only ones fighting their oppressors.
Perhaps Hamas will dig its heels in.
Additionally, it forces Hamas to fight on its own, despite the fact that Israel’s offensive has already seriously crippled its capabilities. In an interview on Monday, Hamas leader Osama Hamdan seemed to agree to Hezbollah’s new role.
Any ceasefire statement is appreciated. Hamdan told the Lebanese channel Al-Mayadeen, which is thought to be ideologically aligned with Hezbollah, that Hezbollah has supported our people and made important sacrifices.
The ceasefire, according to Palestinian analyst Khalil Sayegh, may further reduce Hamas’s support in Gaza by demonstrating the futility of its strategy that its assault on Israel would inspire other violent organizations to join the conflict.
“As they struggle to defend their strategy to the public, we can see the Hamas messaging becoming weaker and weaker,” Sayegh added.
The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, could assist push Hamas to the bargaining table by letting the party know that the cavalry is not approaching.
However, Hamas analysts forecast that it would simply exacerbate the situation in negotiations and on the battlefield. Hamas has maintained that it will only free all the hostages if Israel completely withdraws from Gaza.
As long as Israeli forces are present in Gaza, I anticipate that Hamas will keep engaging in guerilla warfare, Shawa stated.
Families of hostages lose hope
As the nation awaited word on whether a ceasefire in Lebanon had been reached, dozens of Israelis gathered on a major highway in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night to demand the return of the captives.
At least one-third of the approximately 100 hostages who are still being held in Gaza are thought to be dead. During a ceasefire last year, the majority of the other prisoners that Hamas had taken were freed.
The truce with Hezbollah, according to Ricardo Grichener, the uncle of 23-year-old hostage Omer Wenkert, demonstrated how the Israeli government was blatantly ignoring the hostages.
He claimed that the choice to delay a deal in Gaza and free the prisoners is not predicated on the same military success metrics, despite the fact that Israel has caused more harm to Hamas in Gaza than to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
In October, the latest attempt to end the war came to a standstill. Although U.S. President Joe Biden declared on Tuesday that he would launch a fresh campaign, his administration is already in its final days following former President Donald Trump’s reelection.
Our hostages are not affected by this truce. Ifat Kalderon, holding a picture of her cousin, Ofer Kalderon, a father of four and a hostage, stated, “I think Netanyahu forgot about them and he just wants to keep fighting in Gaza.”
Ofer celebrated his 54th birthday yesterday. She said it was his second birthday in Gaza. The fact that he is still there is astonishing.
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