Advertisement
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
It remains unclear whether the six-week truce will lead to a permanent cease-fire and the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza, or if fighting will resume.
Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on an initial six-week truce in part by putting off their most intractable disputes to a nebulous second phase — which neither side is sure they will reach.
Under the agreement, 16 days into the initial cease-fire, Israeli and Hamas officials are expected to begin negotiating next steps: an end to the war, the release of the remaining living hostages from Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory.
Israeli leaders have long insisted that they will not end the war until Hamas is destroyed. That appeared far from reality on Sunday as Hamas militants, some waving rifles, fanned out in parts of Gaza in pickup trucks, in a show of authority to Palestinians and Israelis alike.
Israel and Hamas have both preserved some of their bargaining chips. At the end of the 42-day truce, Hamas will still have around two-thirds of the 98 remaining hostages, including dozens who are believed to be dead. And Israel will still occupy parts of Gaza, and hold major prisoners, including Marwan Barghouti, a militant leader and iconic Palestinian political figure.
But as part of the talks, the Israeli government will then probably have to decide whether it is willing to choose one of its war aims, bringing home the hostages, over another, destroying Hamas. And choosing the hostages might threaten Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s grip on power in Israel.
In the meantime, both sides have agreed to postpone a decisive agreement as to the war’s end and the future of Gaza, and hope the 42-day cease-fire will play to their advantage, said Shlomo Brom, a retired Israeli brigadier general. Hamas, in particular, “hopes that the new dynamic will prevent Israel from returning to fighting,” he said.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Advertisement
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT