2023-11-29 08:18:02
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — International mediators were working Wednesday to extend the truce in Gaza, hoping that Hamas, which rules the territory, would continue handing over hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and more relief from the Israeli air and ground offensive. Otherwise, the agreement would expire in one day.
Israel has welcomed the release of dozens of hostages in recent days and says it will maintain the truce if Hamas continues to free captives. But its other major objective — the annihilation of the armed group that has ruled the Gaza Strip for 16 years — could be moving away.
Weeks of intense bombing and a ground invasion have leveled vast stretches of northern Gaza and killed thousands of Palestinians. But they appear to have had little effect on the Hamas government, as indicated by its ability to manage complex negotiations, enforce ceasefire compliance on other armed groups, and orchestrate the release of hostages without incident.
Hamas Gaza leader Yehya Sinwar and other commanders have likely moved south along with hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians who have crowded shelters.
An Israeli ground invasion in the south could end up taking out Hamas leaders and eliminating the rest of the group’s infrastructure, including its kilometers (miles) of tunnels, but the United States, Israel’s main ally, does not appear willing to take on the responsibility. cost in destruction and Palestinian lives that would entail.
Joe Biden’s government has told Israel that if it resumes the offensive it must operate with much more precision, especially in the south. That strategy is unlikely to break Hamas quickly, and international pressure for a lasting ceasefire is mounting.
“How far both sides will be willing to go in the hostage and prisoner exchange for the pause is about to be tested, but at this point the pressures and incentives for both to stick to it are stronger than the incentives for return to war,” Martin Indyk, former US ambassador to Israel, wrote in X.
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Magdy reported from Cairo and Lidman from Jerusalem.
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