Can someone
There was a good FT article yesterday explaining that a lot of the hostages are held by groups other than Hamas. No way to verify but I remember reading that a lot of the civilian hostages were taken by non-Hamas groups.
Anyhow it's been really heartening to see the peace hold up. Hamas are at least trying to extend the truce by releasing more hostages.. and people like Borrel in the EU are actively calling for a lasting peace and a international conference on how to proceed in Gaza. Hopefully something meaningful can be reached.. because if the temporary truce lapses then we already know what Israel will do.. I'm not sure many of us have the stomach to see the last month and half play out again.
This put a sad smile on my face... here on the ground so to speak, it's very very obvious that it's not the end of it.
It will continue in a couple of days.
Will probably be different in the sense that Israel won't be allowed to perform such airstrikes as it did before the cease-fire-
So you'd think that fewer civilians will die, and deaths amongst the IDF will be higher.
Seeing as the IDF is constantly surprised, as has been reported, by how complicated, vast, and sophisticated the tunnel system of Hamas is,
there comes a realization that there's still tons of work to do if the objective is to destroy Hamas.
tones of job to do with fewer airstrikes to assist you before you go into southern Gaza = months of warfare, in theory.
The international community won't let Israel fight in Gaza for months on end. So it'll just be and look like a half-assed job in a field where you can't allow yourself to do such a thing.
I think Sinwar planned this to a tee. nothing that has happened so far has surprised him and his men in the slightest if I had to guess.
Bibi probably still thinks that the survival of Hamas is better for Israel than the formation of a Palestinian state.
it's just that he won't be able to keep acting according to it.
If he tries he will get ousted and the next PM will continue with the war.
Regarding the hostages, as
@Amir pointed out, it is very likely that a lot of them are dead.
There's talk that quite some of the bodies that IDF soldiers took from Shifa had tattoos in Hebrew a/o other identifying marks that point to the fact that they're Israelis.
It is kept under the carpet seeing as there's every interest to act as if all the hostages are alive.
who knows.
@That_Bloke I agree with you about the crossroad here. I think that Israel is very close - maybe closer than what the government thinks - to losing/deeply damaging ties with allies or even neutral states.
Even with the likes of Jordan and Egypt where there is no love lost but the peace treaties are beneficial for strategic reasons, I don't know how long they can survive what is about to unfold in Khan Yunis and its surroundings.
Because Israel doesn't seem to have the military capabilities to destroy Hamas and Hezbollah combined- or maybe it does but the price will be too heavy to pay-, it would be logical to suggest that the state of Israel already has changed to historical proportions. I can't see how people will agree to live in the north and the south of Israel.
very interesting times ahead.
