A long-discussed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is now over.
Although Hamas has demanded an extension of this period, Israel has not yet given any official response.
Hamas released 24 hostages on Friday (November 24), 13 of whom were Israeli citizens, in exchange for 39 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. Also, on Saturday (November 25), 13 Israeli hostages held by Hamas were released in exchange for 39 Palestinian prisoners. Apart from this, four Thai citizens have also been released.
According to the agreement, during the four-day cease-fire, two hundred trucks carrying relief supplies, along with four fuel trucks and four other trucks, will enter Gaza every day.
During this period, both sides have decided not to take any action in northern and southern Gaza, and Israel will not fly surveillance drones over Gaza.
But Hamas has alleged that Israel has still intercepted 97 trucks.
All these trucks were carrying aid to northern Gaza, while Hamas has also accused Israel of using drones to spy on southern Gaza.
This ceasefire is also beneficial for Hamas.
This would help Hamas recover from weeks of fierce fighting during which Hamas was besieged by Israeli attacks and suffered heavy casualties.
Hamas will no doubt use this time to reorganize its organizational chain and deploy its fighters to new locations to inflict maximum damage on the Israeli army.
Interestingly, stopping the war for a few days would give Hamas time to move the remaining hostages from place to place so that Israel would not be able to trace their whereabouts or make it more difficult for them.
In short, while there are no obvious benefits to Hamas from this war effort, the hostage release agreement is a significant strategic and tactical advantage for Hamas.
While this is a source of joy for those who have been freed by Hamas, it will make the process of freeing those still held by Hamas more expensive and difficult.
Hamas benefits from the release of hostages?
This temporary ceasefire has brought some relief to both sides. But this does not seem to solve the problem of all the hostages.
This could benefit Hamas in many ways.
The release of dozens of elderly, women and children held hostage by Hamas in these four days is a great relief for the Israelis.
This means that Hamas will now have more than 150 hostages, a number that is less than before, which is actually a better thing for Hamas because they will have to deal with fewer people.
This means that Hamas will now have more than 150 hostages, a number that is less than before, which is actually a better thing for Hamas because they will have to deal with fewer people.
So, it is not that Hamas has shown generosity by freeing the elderly, women and children, on the contrary, Hamas now has to take care of fewer people.
This is especially true in the case of about two dozen laborers from Thailand and Nepal, since it is not strategically important for Hamas to hold them hostage, as they are neither Israeli nor Jewish.
Another reason is that they will now have an even easier reason to detain the remaining people.
Most of the rest are Israeli soldiers or youths so Hamas can declare them prisoners of war and demand the release of more Palestinians in negotiations.
Earlier, Israel had agreed to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for only a few Israeli soldiers. Once, thousands of prisoners were released by Israel.
Exactly how much aid has reached Gaza?
According to the BBC’s Yolande Nell, queues of trucks and large cars had started to arrive since early that morning to bring aid to Gaza through Egypt’s Rafah crossing.
Most of them are unable to bathe due to lack of accessories and clothes.
Since the ceasefire began, Juliet said, she has seen Palestinian civilians returning to their destroyed homes and searching through the rubble to see if they can find anything.
Israel has allowed four diesel tankers and four trucks full of LPG gas and some relief goods to enter Gaza.
The Israeli Defense Forces say about 200 trucks full of aid were expected to enter Gaza on Saturday.
On Friday, the United Nations said it was the largest aid to Gaza since the start of the war on October 21.
According to Juliet Touma, spokeswoman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Gaza desperately needs all kinds of aid.
According to him, “Essential medical supplies, rations, medicines, drinking water. Cleaning kit required for cleaning. These are very important.”
Most shelters in Gaza are overcrowded. UNRWA says about one million displaced people are living in schools and other places.
People in Gaza said that when the war broke out, they left their homes with their clothes on.