Qatari mediators announced on Monday that the truce between Israel and Hamas would be extended for two additional days to allow for the continued release of Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza.
Summary
Qatari mediators announced on Monday that the truce between Israel and Hamas would be extended for two additional days to allow for the continued release of Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza.
- Qatar has facilitated the negotiations between Hamas and Israel throughout the seven-week-old conflict.
- Hamas is using the 240 hostages kidnapped during the horrific Oct. 7 surprise attack as bargaining chips to trade for a cessation in Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip.
- Around 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, were butchered in the Oct. 7 massacre.
- Hamas claims nearly 15,000 people have been killed in the Israeli military response, but refuses to release any death toll for its own fighters. Instead, Hamas claims all Palestinian casualties are civilians.
- After three days of exchanges, 58 hostages have been released by Hamas including 39 Israelis and one American, a four-year-old girl orphaned in the massacre.
- A fourth hostages-for-prisoners exchange is expected later Monday.
- Israel has released dozens of female and teenage prisoners convicted on terror-related charges to secure the release of civilians – almost all elderly women, small children, and mothers – from captivity in Gaza.
- The New York Times reported the Israeli government has begun contacting the families of the hostages expected to be released later on Monday. Monday’s swap is expected to include 11 Israeli hostages in exchange for 33 Palestinian prisoners.
- CNN quoted a diplomatic source who claims more than 40 Israeli hostages are not being held by Hamas, a factor that will complicate any future negotiations. Some are being held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad while other smaller groups or individuals may be holding other hostages captive.
- According to NBC News, Israel concluded an agreement with Elon Musk to bring Starlink communications access to the Gaza Strip. Musk “has proposed using Starlink to support communication links in the blackout-hit Gaza enclave with ‘internationally recognized aid organizations.’”
- The Wall Street Journal elaborated on the terms of the ceasefire extension. An additional 20 Israeli women and children are expected to be released in the next two days in exchange for 60 Palestinian prisoners. Both sides will need to exchange lists before midnight on Monday.
- Fox News published new photos of Avigail Idan, the four-year-old American girl released from captivity on Sunday weeks after being kidnapped shortly after watching both of her parents get murdered in front of her. The toddler appeared to be smiling upon reunification with her surviving family members.
- Commentary’s Seth Mandel argued that Israel must pursue the war until Hamas is destroyed because “there is no peacetime Hamas.” While “Hamas and its patrons want the war to end here, with Hamas still in power, if severely weakened. But its methods for doing so are demonstrating precisely why it cannot be permitted to endure. Don’t look away—watch as Hamas marches civilians into the line of fire in a last desperate attempt to cling to power. Watch as Hamas holds on to child hostages just to make them and their families suffer. Hamas isn’t just about raw violence; it represents the disfigurement of human society.”
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© Dominic Moore, 2023
