After fifteen months of war, an agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas to stop the bombings on Gaza and schedule the gradual release of Israeli hostages. 33 of them would be released from Sunday in exchange for a thousand Palestinian prisoners. With the ceasefire, the Israeli army is expected to retreat to the east and allow more humanitarian aid to enter the Palestinian enclave. This is what the first phase of the agreement announced Wednesday evening by the Qatari, Egyptian and American mediators provides for, which should last 42 days. A truce which would mark the end of the ordeal for Gazans, as for the Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
But many points remain to be resolved and the agreement still seems far from effective implementation on Sunday January 19. In question? In Israel, the Prime Minister accused Hamas this Thursday of causing “a last minute crisis” by going back on certain points of the agreement and refused to give the immediate green light to the truce. The day before, his Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, had publicly denounced this agreement which he describes as “capitulation” and had called on his far-right colleague, the Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, to join him in bring down the government. For its part, Hamas, through the voice of one of its leaders cited by AFP, assured that the movement was sticking to the agreement negotiated yesterday, thus rejecting Israel’s accusations.
The Jewish state was initially due to convene a security cabinet this Thursday to validate the terms of the agreement. So what will Israel decide? What does this agreement provide? What was the role of American presidents in these negotiations? The United States said it was “confident” to resolve the “last minute issues” raised by the Israelis. The day before Joe Biden did not hide his satisfaction, welcoming “months of intense diplomacy” to achieve the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The American president, in office for a few more days, also stressed that his administration “spoke as one team” with that of Donald Trump, who is preparing to take back the helm on Monday, January 20. Donald Trump, for his part, welcomed this agreement, judging that “it was only possible because he was elected last November”. He, who wanted diplomatic success before entering the White House, had recently promised “hell” to the region if an agreement was not reached before he came to power on January 20. His future secretary of state also advocated “bold diplomacy” to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The experts:
– Bruno TERTRAIS – Deputy Director of the FRS, the Foundation for Strategic Research, geopolitical advisor at the Montaigne Institute, author of the atlas of borders published by Editions des Arènes
– Agnès LEVALLOIS – Middle East specialist and vice-president of IREMMO, the Middle East Mediterranean Research and Studies Institute, author The Black Book of Gaza published in Seuil.
– Nicole BACHARAN – Political scientist and historian, editorialist at Ouest France
– Pierre HASKI – Journalist, international politics columnist for Le Nouvel Obs and France Inter
