An Israeli soldier patrols at a protective security barrier decorated with the “Path for Peace” mural at the border fence with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel, on Nov. 17, 2023. (Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg)
JERUSALEM — As Israel and Hamas agreed Monday to extend a tense, temporary pause in combat, outside parties have dared to hope that the break in violence will evolve into a more prolonged halt to a war that has already laid waste to much of Gaza.
Qatari mediators announced that the initial four-day pause would be extended for two additional days to allow for the release of more Hamas hostages, as well as Palestinian women and teens held in Israeli prisons.
But humanitarian groups rushing aid trucks into the enclave are still pleading for more time, and for steps that will keep southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of families are sheltering, from becoming Israel’s next target.
“I have remained deeply engaged over the last few days to ensure that this deal brokered and sustained through extensive U.S. mediation and diplomacy can continue to deliver results,” President Joe Biden said in a statement Monday.
But in Israel, politicians, military leaders and the public are nearly unanimous: No matter how long this pause lasts, peace is not at hand.
“Any further negotiations will be held under fire,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said to troops during a visit to Gaza on Saturday.
Even as Israelis celebrated the release of the first four groups of hostages held by Hamas, there is broad agreement here that the all-out war to eliminate Hamas is far from over. Combat operations will begin as soon as the hostage release deal is complete, officials said.
“This respite will be short,” Gallant said to Navy commandos, advising them to be ready for at least two more months of fighting.
The Israel Defense Forces have said their troops inside Gaza remain at the ready, although drone surveillance and air operations have largely been suspended.
The military is regrouping for the next phase of operations, officials said, and they expect Hamas is doing the same.
“We will return immediately at the end of the cease-fire to attacking Gaza,” Israeli army chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Saturday. “We will do it to dismantle Hamas and also to create great pressure to return as quickly as possible as many hostages as possible.”
More than 13,000 Palestinians have been killed in less than two months of war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, including thousands of children. Airstrikes have made Gaza City, and much of the rest of the north, an unlivable ruin. In the south, more than a million displaced people are struggling to survive.
Israel’s leadership has, publicly at least, been undeterred by the growing international outcry over the mounting death toll and the intensifying humanitarian crisis, which aid groups have said is without precedent. The pause in fighting has not led to any open dissent within the emergency government, which includes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition members.
During the cabinet debate Tuesday to approve the first break in fighting since the war began, Netanyahu made clear that a vote for the deal was not a vote for lasting peace. In the days since, other politicians have celebrated the scenes of hostages reuniting with families — constantly looped on television news — while also calling for combat operations to resume and be directed at the south.
“If there was any disagreement at all, it was the argument with those who didn’t think we should stop even for the release of the hostages,” said Yaakov Amidror, a former general and Netanyahu’s national security adviser from 2011 to 2013. “In the present situation, there is no one who can stop the resumption of the war.”
Israelis are still reeling from the trauma of Hamas’s surprise attack, which killed some 1,200 people, and public backing for the war has not ebbed during seven weeks of fighting.
More than 90% of Jewish Israelis support the twin goals of crushing Hamas and saving the hostages, according to a poll Friday by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI). When asked which was more important, 49% chose “releasing all the hostages,” compared with 32% who believe “toppling Hamas” should be the preeminent aim.
The families of hostages have become a political force in Israel and were pivotal in pressuring Netanyahu to accept the exchange deal mediated by Qatar. While most Israelis support extending the pause to bring as many of the 240 captives home as possible, that does not mean they want the war to end, according to IDI President Yohanan Plesner.
“In Israeli society nothing has changed,” Plesner said. “There is no basis in public opinion for anything having to do with a cease-fire with Hamas or any diplomatic solution.”
He added: “There’s a broad understanding that there is no way we can restore security, stability or any kind of peaceful relations with Palestinians without eliminating Hamas. And that means more ground operations.”
The chaotic second day of the captive exchange deal only added to Israel’s distrust of Hamas, according to an Israeli official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue. At the hour when 13 Israelis were due to be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross on Saturday, Hamas delayed the operation, objecting to what it said were Israeli violations of the agreement.
Israel denied it had broken the terms of the deal, and the intercession of regional mediators eventually paved the way for the group to be released later in the day. Additional groups of hostages were released Sunday and Monday, seemingly without incident.
But “we feel like they are playing games,” said the official.
Aid groups and Israel’s allies believe the shaky truce is still an important start, and could be used as the basis for a more durable diplomatic solution. But the argument to stop fighting has barely registered here, said Amidror.
“This question is only being asked outside of Israel,” he said. “In Israel, it’s clear the war is going to resume.”
