Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held in Gaza gather in favor of the Gaza truce in Tel Aviv on January 16, 2025.Credit: AFP/JACK GUEZ
According to the deal reached between Israel and Hamas, the cease-fire in the Gaza Strip is supposed to go into effect on Sunday at 12:15 P.M. Also on Sunday, the first three hostages are expected to return to Israel. However, the meetings of the security cabinet and of the full cabinet, scheduled for Thursday morning, were postponed after the Prime Minister’s Office announced, “Hamas is backing out of the understandings and creating a last-minute crisis that prevents a settlement, in a last-minute extortion attempt.”
Sadly, when it comes to the release of hostages, Israelis in general and the families of the hostages in particular are all too familiar with disappointment. It’s hard to recall how many times since the previous deal in November 2023 there was a feeling that another release was imminent, only for someone, from Hamas and from Israel, to thwart it. But this time – mainly thanks to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who used threats and his authority to secure the deal – all signs indicate that it is indeed coming to fruition.
Certainty about the agreement will only be achieved after the first hostages are handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross. We must hope that the forces acting to sabotage the agreement do not succeed.
On the Israeli side, this means that ideally, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fear of Trump will outweigh the threats of Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who oppose the deal. It should be noted that Smotrich has again set a new Israeli record for cynicism by trying to extract a commitment from Netanyahu that the second phase of the deal won’t be implemented, all in the name of concern for all of the hostages.
We must not forget for even a moment that Smotrich and Ben-Gvir oppose the agreement because prolonging the war serves the aspirations of the annexation and apartheid enterprise and the plans for the occupation and settlement of Gaza. For this very reason, it’s important to remember that the struggle against the forces seeking to foil the agreement will continue even after it’s implemented. Even the relatives of hostages who aren’t included in the first phase recognize that they must continue, with all their might, their fight to see that the second phase is realized, in the face all those who want to continue the war even at the cost of abandoning their loved ones.
Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod Cohen, a soldier, is a hostage, said that there is an understanding among the hostage families that “there are those who, under the pretext of the need for a single, comprehensive deal, conceal their true desire: for there to be no deal, and for the fighting to continue.”
They know Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and fear that there’s a chance he will give in to pressure and prevent the second phase from going forward. Therefore, Cohen concluded, “First of all, we need to first get out whoever we can be got out. And at the same time, to fight for the momentum and be focused on the war against Netanyahu so that he doesn’t find ways to sabotage [the deal].” Cohen is right. We need to fight for the implementation of the deal and persevere in the struggle until every last hostage is released, and the war ends.
Haaretz Editorial