Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant assured this Thursday that the truce in Gaza “will be brief” and that once it ends, fighting inside the enclave will resume “with intensity” for at least another two months.
“What we will see in the coming days is, firstly, the release of the hostages. This truce will be short-lived,” Yoav Gallant emphasized during a visit to the troops of the 13th Shayetet unit of the Israeli Navy.
Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement on a four-day ceasefire that will allow the release of 50 hostages held by Islamist militias in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners. In both cases, these are women and minors.
Israeli sources confirmed to Efe that for every ten additional hostages that Hamas is willing to release in four days, the truce could be extended by another day, to a maximum of ten days.
“During this period, it is necessary to organize, prepare, investigate, replenish weapons and prepare for the continuation of [a combater]- Galant addressed the soldiers.
“There will be a continuation because we need to complete the victory and create momentum for the next groups of hostages, who will return only due to military pressure,” he added.
It is estimated that Palestinian militias in Gaza are holding about 240 people hostage, about 210 in the hands of Hamas and another 30 in the hands of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
A total of at least 40 child hostages are being held in Gaza, according to Israeli authorities who today received a list of 50 hostages to be handed over to Hamas, although this was not made public as a precaution.
“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,” emphasized, in turn, the representative of the Israeli army, Rear Admiral. Daniel Hagary.
The spokesman assured that the troops would focus “on planning and completing preparations for the next phases of combat operations.”
The four-day truce reached between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group will begin on Friday at 7:00 a.m. local time (5:00 a.m. Lisbon time).
On October 7, militants from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel, carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel. territory since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and injuring about 5,000.
In response, Israel declared a war to “eradicate” Hamas, which began with cuts in supplies of food, water, electricity and fuel in the Gaza Strip and daily bombings, followed by a ground offensive that encircled Gaza City.
The war between Israel and Hamas, which entered its 48th day today and continues to threaten to spread throughout the Middle East region, has so far led to the deaths of some 15,000 people in the impoverished Palestinian enclave, most of them civilians, and 33,000 were injured. according to the latest report from local authorities and 1.7 million displaced, according to the UN.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.