Israel and Hamas at war, day 47 | The ceasefire postponed

The ceasefire and the release of hostages, planned for Thursday, were postponed until Friday, Israel announced Wednesday evening. But the promised truce will be insufficient in any case, say international organizations.

“Negotiations for the release of our hostages continue incessantly,” said Wednesday the head of the Israeli National Security Council, Tzachi Hanegbi, while an Israeli official on condition of anonymity confided that he there would be “no break” in the fighting on Thursday.

Neither offered an explanation.

However, according to an Israeli official cited by the Hebrew State Public Broadcasting Company (KAN), the delay could be attributable to missing signatures from Hamas and Qatari mediators. Channel 13 also said some details of the deal needed to be ironed out.

A source close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office would also have said that “no one had talked about a release tomorrow [jeudi]if not the media,” according to what KAN reported.

The ceasefire was expected to begin this Thursday at 10 a.m. (3 a.m. EST). According to Qatar, the main mediator of the agreement, the truce must last “four days, with the possibility of extension”, and allow Hamas to release 50 of its approximately 240 hostages, against approximately 150 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Dans les deux cas, il s’agira de femmes et de jeunes « de moins de 19 ans ». Le ratio d’un otage contre trois prisonniers devra toujours être respecté et au minimum 10 otages par jour devront être libérés, selon le gouvernement israélien.

En Israël, la principale association de familles d’otages s’est déclarée « heureuse » de l’annonce d’une « libération partielle », sans toutefois savoir « qui sera libéré et quand ». « Cela me donne l’espoir de voir mes filles revenir », a notamment déclaré Maayan Zin, mère de deux enfants retenus à Gaza, interrogée par l’Agence France-Presse.

Quelle différence ?

De bonnes nouvelles qu’il faut toutefois relativiser, estime Atalia Omer, professeure de religions, conflits et études de paix de l’Université de Notre Dame, dans l’Indiana. Car cette accalmie ne veut pas dire que la situation à Gaza va s’améliorer.

« Bien sûr, nous accueillons tous favorablement un cessez-le-feu », souligne d’abord l’experte américaine d’origine israélienne.

Ce discours est partagé par les organisations humanitaires, qui ont plaidé mercredi pour une trêve prolongée.

Selon Amnistie internationale, quatre jours ne suffiront pas à régler la crise humanitaire et sanitaire qui se développe à Gaza, dans le contexte de siège total auquel est confronté le territoire palestinien, coupé de ses approvisionnements en eau, électricité et carburant.

« C’est insuffisant et ce n’est certainement pas assez en termes de droits de la personne », a affirmé Paul O’Brien, directeur général d’Amnistie internationale aux États-Unis, en conférence de presse mercredi. « En quatre jours, nous ne pouvons pas apporter de la nourriture à 2 millions de personnes, des soins à 2 millions de personnes », a de son côté déclaré Danila Zizi, responsable de Handicap International, estimant que ce serait « une goutte dans l’océan ».

Pessimiste, Atalia Omer souligne en outre que cette « avancée » ne garantit en rien le début d’une résolution du conflit.

« On est soulagé d’apprendre qu’un peu d’aide va entrer [dans Gaza]. But this is hardly the minimum, knowing that this war will continue. There is no indication that things will slow down and move towards a political negotiation. Because any political process implies that we will have to reconsider the way in which the Israeli state interacts with the Palestinians. »

Qatar’s role

The agreement between Hamas and Israel was made possible by Qatar, which confirms its role as an essential mediator in the region.

Many experts note the unique position of the small Gulf emirate, which has managed to maintain warm relations with Western powers while maintaining links with radical groups and states considered as pariahs, notably by housing the political leadership of Hamas .

But this is precisely what allows it today to bridge the gap between the parties, underlines Tamir Sorek, a Middle East specialist at the University of Pennsylvania and of Israeli origin.

No wonder, therefore, that Qatar has carried out intense diplomatic activity since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas. On October 21, he had already obtained the release of two American women, before that of two Israeli women by the IDF a few days later. Doha also intervened in September in the release of Americans detained in Iran. More recently, on October 16, while all eyes were on the Gaza Strip, Qatar announced that it had repatriated children to Ukraine who had been kidnapped by Russia.

The Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, also spoke with Joe Biden on Wednesday. The American president also spoke with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, as well as with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in discussions relating to “the agreement aimed at obtaining the release of the hostages”, according to the White House.

“A mountain of dead”

Pope Francis separately received at the Vatican on Wednesday relatives of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and Palestinians with family in Gaza, fearing “a mountain of deaths” in this war.

“Let us pray for peace in the Holy Land. Let us pray that controversies are resolved through dialogue and negotiation, and not by a mountain of deaths on both sides,” he said in a video call for peace in the world and in the Middle East. .

The Israeli army, for its part, took journalists to what remains of the immense compound of the al-Chifa hospital in Gaza, destroyed by the bombings, and where what is described as a Hamas tunnel network. The establishment was the focal point of several weeks of fighting, with the army convinced that the Palestinian Islamist movement housed weapons stocks and a command center there, something Hamas has always denied.

With Bruno Marcotte, The PressAgence France-Presse, the BBC and The Guardian