Photo Credit: Oren Cohen/Flash90
Israeli soldiers operating in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, November 28, 2024.

Hamas is proposing a week-long ceasefire that will not include the release of hostages, and on its fourth day the terrorist group would provide a list of the hostages it is able to release, Kan11 News reported Tuesday night. Israel has demanded to see at least the list of hostages who were classified as humanitarian cases, but Hamas has not provided it, claiming that it does not have the information.

Kan11 cited foreign sources who said Hamas knows where most of the hostages are, but wants to buy time. At the same time, the same sources say Hamas is not conditioning the ceasefire on the withdrawal of IDF forces from the Strip and the return of displaced Gaza residents to their homes in the north of the Strip. According to the sources, Israel would decide at the end of the seven-day ceasefire whether it agreed to the list of hostages that Hamas would provide. If it does not agree, the IDF would be free to renew the fighting.

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It appears that Hamas’s main concern is not improving the conditions of Gaza residents nor the release of its security prisoners, ending the war while it still holds power in the Strip. Israel, for its part, agrees to end the war but only on the condition that Hamas would not have power in Gaza.

Displaced Gazans inspect their tent after an Israeli airstrike in the Khan Younes in the southern Gaza Strip, November 25, 2024. / Abed Rahim Khatib/ Flash90

Ynet cited Western diplomats who claim that the terrorist organization has recently succeeded in restoring a significant portion of civilian control capabilities in some areas of the Gaza Strip – mainly in the center of the Gaza Strip where IDF forces are not present: the Al-Mawasi, Nuseirat, and Deir al-Balah areas, where an estimated 1.9 million Gazans, who constitute about 90% of the Strip’s residents, are concentrated.

The New Year celebrations in Israel began with alarms sounding in the Gaza Envelope settlements at exactly midnight. The IDF spokesman reported that two rocket launches were detected crossing from the center of the Gaza Strip. One launch was successfully intercepted and the other fell in an open area. It was Hamas’s way of signaling that it was still alive and capable of inflicting damage on Israel.

Hamas’s ability to rebuild surprised many, who did not understand how the organization still manages to impose order in various areas of the Gaza Strip. American intelligence even claimed that Hamas recently managed to recruit some ten thousand new terrorists, most of them young people who had not been recruited until now. The IDF rejects this claim, claiming that while Hamas is militarily present on the ground and still possesses certain missile firing capabilities (it fired on Jerusalem on Saturday), but in terms of command and control the terrorist organization is finished.

According to Channel 14 News, amid the deadlock in negotiations for a hostage deal, the political echelon in Israel is considering ordering the IDF to occupy Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip.

Jerusalem is watching with great satisfaction the excellent results of the aggressive maneuver the IDF has been conducting in the northern Gaza Strip in recent weeks: not only the operational results – the elimination and capture of many hundreds of terrorists – but also the pressure that this maneuver is generating within Hamas, which fears that it is about to lose a significant portion of the territory of the Gaza Strip forever.

Against this background and following the impasse in talks for a deal, the political echelon is considering ordering the IDF to move south and occupy Gaza City in the near future. Such an operation is more feasible now when a ceasefire is in place in Lebanon and the army has more forces available for a large-scale, prolonged maneuver.

A final decision on the matter has not yet been made – the political-security cabinet meeting scheduled for Thursday was postponed due to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hospitalization – but the political and military echelons are beginning to realize that the only thing that truly hurts Hamas is the loss of territory, and therefore the IDF may occupy Gaza City soon, and evacuate its residents.

The Israeli right is hoping that President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in 19 days would provide the political support for a variety of steps on the part of the IDF to usher in victory in Gaza.


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David writes news at JewishPress.com.