Netanyahu Claims Ceasefire Can't Start Without List of Captives from Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that a ceasefire in Gaza would not start until Hamas came up with a list of the three hostages it was to release later in the day. The exchange is part of a broader agreement, in which Hamas is expected to release hostages in return for Israel releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
As the ceasefire deadline loomed closer, Israel also said it retrieved, in a special operation, the body of Oron Shaul, an Israeli soldier killed in the 2014 Israel-Hamas war. Shaul and another soldier, Hadar Goldin, were the two Israeli soldiers who have remained in Gaza since the end of the 2014 war and whose retrieval their families have been lobbying tirelessly for.
In a statement, Mr. Netanyahu said he had instructed the Israeli military to delay the start of the cease-fire until Hamas handed over the list of hostages to be freed. "The ceasefire, effective at 8:30 a.m., will not commence until we are in possession of the list of hostages, to which Hamas has committed," Mr. Netanyahu said. His comments came in a message similar to one he delivered in a warning late on Sunday.
For its part, Hamas blamed "technical field reasons" for the delay in submitting the expected list. But the Islamic group repeated its commitment to the truce announced earlier in the week.
This has set off alarm bells over the timely implementation of the ceasefire that represents the first step in what is likely to be a long and brittle process towards an easing of the 15-month conflict.
During the first 42 days of the cease-fire, up to 33 hostages in Gaza will be repatriated, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees traded, and Israeli forces withdrawn into a buffer zone in Gaza. To be permitted also will be the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes, as well as humanitarian aid, desperately needed in the region.
This is the second ceasefire since the conflict started, and it is more significant, perhaps lasting, compared to the brief, week-long pause that happened more than a year ago. It could mean the permanent end of the conflict.