Did Hamas and Israel Agree to Five-Day Pause in the Fighting?
The Washington Post is reporting that a five-day pause in the fighting has been agreed to between Israel and Hamas. When that begins is reportedly within the next few days, though it could quickly come unglued if a certain terrorist group opts to violate this agreement. It wouldn’t be the first time. There was a ceasefire that was in effect between Israel and Hamas before the latter executed a vicious terrorist attack on October 7.
Since then, the Gaza Strip has become a war zone as Israel intends to wipe out Hamas from the region. It was under constant artillery and air attack, softening up Hamas and taking out key operational leaders before the ground operations commenced on October 28. Israel has cut the Gaza Strip in two, encircled Gaza City, and is slowly wiping out the terror group in the city.
The IDF has exposed the world to Hamas’ weapons caches, its rocket launchers in schools, and other aspects of its terrorist infrastructure that violate international law. Contrary to the antisemitic, pro-terrorist Left, it’s only Hamas that is committing war crimes in Gaza, shooting at their own people who are trying to flee to safety. Israel has allowed temporary pauses in the war for weeks, which has allowed scores of Palestinians to move out of the conflict zone. This announcement is a first regarding these so-called “humanitarian pauses" (via WaPo):
Israel, the United States and Hamas have agreed to a tentative deal that would free dozens of women and children held hostage in Gaza, in exchange for a five-day pause in fighting.
The release, which could begin within the next several days — barring last-minute hitches — could lead to the first sustained pause in conflict in Gaza, according to people familiar with its provisions.
Under the terms of a detailed, six-page agreement, all parties to the conflict would freeze combat operations for at least five days while an initial 50 or more hostages are released in smaller batches every 24 hours. It was not immediately clear how many of the 239 people believed to be in captivity in Gaza would be released under the deal. Overhead surveillance would monitor movement on the ground to police the pause.
The stop in fighting is also intended to allow a significant increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance, including fuel, to enter the besieged enclave from Egypt.
The outline of a deal was put together during weeks of talks in Doha, Qatar among Israel, the United States and Hamas, indirectly represented by Qatari mediators, according to Arab and other diplomats. But it remained unclear until now that Israel would agree to temporarily pause its offensive in Gaza, provided the conditions were right.
We’ll keep you updated, but these pauses only benefit Hamas. Israeli forces have also found the remains of some hostages taken by Hamas on October 7—also, no word from Israeli officials. The Israeli Embassy refused to give The Washington Post a comment on this reported deal.
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What is going on? I feel like we're back to when Biden announced there would be pauses and got called out by Israel for jumping the gun.
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