International pressure for a lasting cease-fire is mounting. An Israeli ground invasion of the south to pursue Hamas will likely bring an escalating cost in Palestinian lives and destruction that the United States, Israel’s main ally, could be unwilling to bear.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — International mediators appeared to make progress Wednesday on extending the truce in Gaza, encouraging Hamas militants to keep freeing hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and further relief from Israel’s air and ground offensive. The cease-fire will otherwise end within a day.
Israel has welcomed the release of dozens of hostages in recent days and says it will maintain the truce if Hamas keeps freeing captives. Still, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underscored Wednesday that Israel will resume its campaign to eliminate Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for 16 years and orchestrated the deadly attack on Israel that triggered the war
“After this phase of returning our abductees is exhausted, will Israel return to fighting? So my answer is an unequivocal yes,” he said. “There is no way we are not going back to fighting until the end.”
He spoke ahead of a visit to the region planned this week by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to press for further extensions of the truce and hostage releases.
Weeks of heavy aerial bombardment and a ground invasion demolished vast swaths of Gaza and killed thousands of Palestinians. But it seems to have had little effect on Hamas’ rule, evidenced by its ability to conduct complex negotiations, enforce the cease-fire among other armed groups, and orchestrate the release of hostages. Hamas leaders, including Yehya Sinwar, have likely relocated to the south.
Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are now crammed into southern Gaza, with some three-quarters of them driven from their homes. The truce has led to a frenzied rush to obtain supplies to feed their families as aid enters in greater, but still insufficient, amounts. Hanging over everyone is the fear that fighting will soon resume.
International pressure for a lasting cease-fire is mounting. An Israeli ground invasion of the south to pursue Hamas will likely bring an escalating cost in Palestinian lives and destruction that the United States, Israel’s main ally, could be unwilling to bear.
The Biden administration has told Israel that if it launches an offensive in the south, it must operate with far greater precision.
“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
The cease-fire is due to end at some point after an exchange of hostages and prisoners Wednesday.
