By NAJIB JOBAIN, SAMY MAGDY and MELANIE LIDMAN (Associated Press)
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — International mediators appeared to make progress Wednesday on extending the truce in Gaza, encouraging Hamas to maintain releasing hostages in trade for the discharge of Palestinian prisoners and additional reduction from Israel’s air and floor offensive. The cease-fire will in any other case finish inside a day.
Israel has welcomed the launch of dozens of hostages in latest days and says it can preserve the truce if Hamas retains releasing captives. But it additionally says it’s dedicated to its different main purpose — the annihilation of the armed group that has dominated Gaza for 16 years and orchestrated the lethal assault on Israel that triggered the struggle — nevertheless laborious that may be.
Weeks of heavy aerial bombardment and a floor invasion have demolished huge swaths of northern Gaza and killed hundreds of Palestinians. But it appears to have had little impact on Hamas’ rule, evidenced by its capacity to conduct complicated negotiations, implement the cease-fire amongst different armed teams, and orchestrate the sleek launch of hostages. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist group by the United States, Canada and the European Union.
Yehya Sinwar and different Hamas leaders have seemingly relocated to the south, together with tons of of hundreds of displaced Palestinians who’ve packed into overflowing shelters.
An Israeli floor invasion of the south may finally ferret out Hamas’ leaders and demolish the remainder of its militant infrastructure, together with kilometers (miles) of tunnels, however at a price in Palestinian lives and destruction that the United States, Israel’s predominant ally, may very well be unwilling to bear.
The Biden administration has informed Israel that if it resumes the offensive it should function with far better precision, particularly within the south. That strategy may make it harder to carry Hamas to its knees any time quickly, and worldwide stress for an enduring cease-fire is already mounting.
“How far both sides will be prepared to go in trading hostages and prisoners for the pause is about to be tested, but the pressures and incentives for both to stick with it are at the moment stronger than the incentives to go back to war,” Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, wrote on X.
DIPLOMACY RAMPS UP
Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt’s state data companies, mentioned negotiations to increase the cease-fire and launch extra hostages have made progress and that it’s “highly likely” one other extension might be introduced Wednesday. Egypt, together with Qatar and the U.S., performed a key position in mediating the unique cease-fire and a two-day extension introduced Monday.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who plans to go to the area this week, mentioned the U.S. want to see an extension of the truce, the discharge of extra hostages, and the supply of extra humanitarian support to Gaza.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, he mentioned he additionally wished to debate postwar preparations for Gaza, a topic on which the U.S., Israel and Arab international locations are deeply divided.
The struggle started with Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault into southern Israel, by which it killed over 1,200 folks, principally civilians. The terrorists dragged some 240 folks again into Gaza, together with infants, kids, girls, troopers, older adults and Thai farm laborers.
Israel responded with a devastating air marketing campaign throughout Gaza and a floor invasion within the north. More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed, roughly two-thirds of them girls and minors, in line with the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.
The toll is probably going a lot larger, as officers have solely sporadically up to date the depend since Nov. 11 resulting from the breakdown of companies within the north. The ministry says hundreds extra individuals are lacking and feared lifeless underneath the rubble.
Israel says 77 of its troopers have been killed within the floor offensive, and it claims to have killed hundreds of militants, with out offering proof.
ISRAEL’S HOSTAGE DILEMMA
The plight of the captives, and the lingering shock from the Oct. 7 assault, has galvanized Israeli help for the struggle. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can be underneath intense stress to carry the hostages residence, and will discover it tough to renew the offensive if there’s a prospect for extra releases.
Israel mentioned Wednesday that round 160 hostages are nonetheless being held in Gaza, together with 4 who’re underneath 18 and 10 who’re over 75. With data laborious to come back by, authorities have solely given approximate counts of the variety of hostages held in Gaza.
There seem to stay sufficient to probably prolong the present cease-fire for one more two weeks. Israel didn’t say how most of the captives are troopers, for whom Hamas is anticipated to drive a a lot tougher discount.
The cease-fire is at the moment resulting from finish in some unspecified time in the future after an trade deliberate for afterward Wednesday.
A complete of 60 Israelis have been freed as a part of the truce, most of whom seem bodily nicely however shaken. Another 21 hostages — 19 Thais, one Filipino and one Russian-Israeli — have been launched in separate negotiations for the reason that truce started. Before the cease-fire, Hamas launched 4 hostages, and the Israeli military rescued one. Two others have been discovered lifeless in Gaza.
The newest swap delivered to 180 the variety of Palestinians free of Israeli prisons. Most have been youngsters accused of throwing stones and firebombs throughout confrontations with Israeli forces. Several have been girls convicted by Israeli army courts of making an attempt lethal assaults.
Palestinians have celebrated the discharge of individuals they see as having resisted Israel’s decadeslong army occupation of lands they need for a future state.
TENSE CALM IN GAZA
Ordinary Palestinians concern the resumption of the struggle, which has introduced unprecedented ranges of dying, destruction and displacement throughout Gaza.
“We are fed up,” mentioned Omar al-Darawi, who works on the overwhelmed Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in central Gaza. “We want this war to stop.”
Israel’s bombardment and floor offensive have displaced greater than 1.8 million folks inside Gaza, practically 80% of the territory’s inhabitants, and most have sought refuge within the south, in line with the U.N.
The cease-fire has allowed extra support to be delivered to Gaza, as much as 200 vehicles a day, however that’s lower than half what the enclave was importing earlier than the combating, whilst wants have soared. People stocking up on gas and different fundamentals have needed to look forward to hours in lengthy strains that kind earlier than daybreak.
As U.N.-run shelters have overflowed, many have been pressured to sleep on the streets exterior in chilly, wet climate. The head of the World Health Organization warned Wednesday that “more people could die from disease than bombings.”
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus mentioned some 111,000 folks have respiratory infections and 75,000 have diarrhea, greater than half of them underneath 5 years outdated. He, too, urged a sustained truce, calling it “a matter of life and death.”
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This story has been up to date to appropriate that the warning from the pinnacle of the World Health Organization got here Wednesday, not Monday.
Magdy reported from Cairo and Lidman from Jerusalem.
Full AP protection at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”