Fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas is still raging in the Gaza Strip… A few hours earlier, Israel gave the green light to a truce.
Fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas still rages in the Gaza Strip. This Wednesday, the IDF announced that it had intercepted a “cruise missile” in southern Israel… and struck the Hamas military intelligence office in the west of the Palestinian enclave.
For its part, the Israeli government gave the green light for an agreement allowing the release of at least 50 hostages held by Hamas, in exchange for a four-day break in the fighting in Gaza. This truce should begin Thursday at 10 a.m., and will facilitate the exchange of Israeli hostages for 150 Palestinians detained in Israel.
A decision welcomed by European and American leaders and several countries in the region, including Egypt and the West Bank.
The Israeli government also published the names of 300 Palestinian detainees who could be released. Among them are 33 women, 123 adolescents and 144 men. Most are detainees awaiting trial.
The families of the hostages hope that the agreement will be extended, with the daily release of 10 other Israeli captives and 30 Palestinian prisoners after the initial exchange.
The humanitarian truce will allow much-needed aid to be delivered to Gaza. However, the thousands of displaced Palestinians will not yet be able to definitively return to their homes.