The agreement between Israel and Hamas is due to come into force on Sunday. It is unclear whether this can be maintained. What is apparently controversial are details of the hostage deal – including Israel's right of veto.
After the joy of the agreement comes the hanging game. After the details were announced yesterday and the old and new US presidents as well as other political leaders from around the world congratulated, it is unclear what will happen next. What hasn't changed is the mutual attribution of blame as to who is responsible.
Israel sees the blame on Hamas, government spokesman David Mencer said: “This morning the Prime Minister's Office made it clear that Hamas denied the hostage deal and created a crisis at the last moment in order to obtain final concessions,” he said Spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Therefore the cabinet could not approve this deal. “Not until the negotiators tell Israel that Hamas has accepted the entire agreement on which there was already agreement.”
Hamas apparently rejects Israel's right to veto
The response from Hamas was prompt and from several representatives of the terrorist organization. No, Hamas is not standing in the way of the deal, said Izzat El-Reshiq, a high-ranking official, who spoke to the Reuters news agency in the Qatari capital Doha.
Hamas stands by what was agreed – and by the ceasefire agreement that was announced by the negotiators. “Nothing has been added. I hope that these statements from Netanyahu are not an attempt to evade his responsibility for the ceasefire,” said the Hamas representative.
The Israeli cabinet was actually supposed to approve the agreement that morning, which would then come into force on Sunday. It is now not clear whether the schedule can still be maintained. According to observers, this is, among other things, about the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons who – like 33 hostages – are to be released. Hamas should reject Israel's veto on the release of certain Palestinian prisoners.
“And what about the other abducted people?”
But domestically there are also increasingly loud critical voices in Israel: Bezalel Smotrich, for example, Israel's right-wing extremist finance minister, has threatened to break up the coalition if the war in Gaza ends. Smotrich considers the deal to be a security risk for his country.
Supporters of this position were on the streets in Jerusalem today, such as Hodaya Minke, who demonstrated. This is one of the worst moments in Israel's history, she says. “Not just because we're ending the war, not just because we're releasing thousands of terrorists who want nothing more than to kill us. But we're only getting 30 hostages and we don't know what condition they're in. And what about the other abducted people?”
“Not the end of the war”
Above all, the big question is still unclear: Is there a chance that the ceasefire will become a permanent ceasefire – including the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip? This is rejected not only by some Israelis and parts of the government, but also by security experts like Amir Avivi.
“This deal is not the end of the war,” says Avivi, a former general. Israel has very clear goals: the destruction of Hamas as an administration and military force and the return of all hostages. “Now we only get a part.” Israel also wants to ensure “that there will never be a terrorist army in Gaza again.” This is a long war in Gaza and Israel will have to deal with it for many years. “This is just one step in which Israel is prioritizing the goal of bringing the hostages home.”
Hamas, on the other hand, wants to ensure that the war in Gaza ends and Israel's troops withdraw. Instead, in the last hours before a possible ceasefire there were once again violent attacks by the Israeli Air Force on targets in the Gaza Strip, leaving dozens dead. The hope of many people there who were still cheering on the streets last night may have been premature.
Jan-Christoph Kitzler, ARD Tel Aviv, tagesschau, January 16, 2025 5:36 p.m
