The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, which is supposed to be coming to an end, has once again been called into question. After the remaining six living Israeli captives expected to be released in this phase were liberated, Israel was set to release more than 600 Palestinian inmates in exchange, the largest number of detainees ever released in one go. But it has now been delayed indefinitely by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has demanded that Hamas discontinue what he calls its "cynical use of hostages for propaganda purposes".
Hamas has accused Israel of purposely disrupting the cease-fire deal. Israel expressed dissatisfaction with the disorderly conditions during one of the initial handovers, claiming that the captives' physical safety had been compromised. Then Israel said Hamas had violated the conditions of the deal by refusing to release Arbel Yehud, a female civilian captive.
In retaliation, it delayed allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to Gaza's north for 48 hours. That was settled when Arbel Yehud was released in a special handover before the next slated for the following Saturday. Hamas then accused Israel of failing to meet its agreements to allow heavy machinery, tents, and caravans into Gaza.
It then announced that it would not carry out the next hostage handover as planned. Regarding what he described as a "cruel and evil violation" of the deal, Netanyahu condemned Hamas. Once again, the ceasefire was maintained only at the last minute by Hamas providing another body within a day, this time proving to be her own. All of these occurrences demonstrate how fragile the peace process remains. They may also have contributed to the fact that talks on the second phase, which were supposed to start earlier this month, have yet to begin. Time is running short, with the first phase scheduled to conclude in a week.
