Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated this Thursday that once the “brief” temporary truce in Gaza ends, which will go into effect this Friday morning, Fighting within the enclave will resume “with intensity” for at least two more months.
“What we will see in the coming days is, first of all, the release of the hostages. This respite will be brief,” Gallant said in a visit to the troops of the Shayetet 13 unit of the Israeli Navy.
Israel and Hamas reached an agreement for a four-day ceasefire, which will allow the release of 50 hostages that the Islamist militias are being held inside the Strip; in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners. In both cases, they are women and minors.
Israeli sources have confirmed that for every ten additional hostages that Hamas is willing to release after those four days, The truce could be extended one more day, up to a maximum of ten days.
“What is required of you in this respite is to organize, prepare, investigate, resupply weapons and prepare to continue,” Gallant urged the soldiers.
(Also read: Pedro Sánchez arrives in Israel and asks the government to comply with International Law)
“There will be a continuation, because we need to complete the victory and create momentum for the next groups of hostages, that they will only return thanks to military pressure,” said the minister.
It is estimated that the Palestinian militias in Gaza have in their possession some 240 kidnapped people, some 210 in the hands of Hamas and another 30 in the hands of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
(Also: ‘Population in Gaza faces immediate possibility of starvation’: UN)
In total, there are at least 40 children captive in Gaza, according to the Israeli authorities, who today received the list of the 50 hostages who will be handed over by Hamas, although this has not been made public out of caution.
“Hamas will try to use the days of the agreement to spread fear, disinformation and psychological terror. The agreement is not the end of the process but the beginning,” said Israeli Army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.
The spokesperson assured that the troops will focus “on planning and completing preparations for the next stages of combat.”
EFE
Israel and Hamas agree to four-day truce and release of 50 hostages
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