Despite the announcement of the truce, attacks by Israel in the south and north of Gaza continue. However, Hamas has already provided the list with the names of three hostages who will be released this afternoon: Romi Gonen, 24, Doron Steinbrecher, 31, and Emily Damary, 28, three civilian women.
The situation in Gaza remains very violent, its citizens remain trapped, added to international pressure to guarantee the release of the hostages and protect the civilian population.
The stages of the ceasefire
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip will take place in three stages. In the first instance, Hamas agrees to release 33 Israeli hostages, including civilian women, people over 50 years of age, and wounded or sick civilians. In exchange, Israel will release Palestinian prisoners. During this period, according to the agreement, Israeli troops will begin a gradual withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the entry of humanitarian aid, denied until now, will be allowed, causing famine and infectious diseases in thousands of displaced people.
The second phase, expected to begin in 16 days, will focus on the distribution of humanitarian aid and the repair of essential infrastructure in Gaza. The third stage will be devoted to the discussion of the political and administrative future of the Gaza Strip, including who will assume government control. The parties involved will seek to establish an agreement that guarantees stability and lasting peace in the region
For his part, US security adviser Mike Walz has already rushed to announce that he says his country will back Israel if Hamas breaches the agreement. This statement was made one day after
Benjamin Netanyahu will affirm that Israel reserves “the right” to resume attacks on Gaza if the pact does not progress as planned.
Netanyahu assured that he had the support of both the outgoing president, Joe Biden, and the incoming president, Donald Trump, to resume the bombings in case the next stages of the agreement are not met.
The release of Palestinian hostages and prisoners
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) began the procedure to receive the three hostages held in the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli channel Channel 12.
An official involved in the operation stated that an ICRC team in Gaza is already on its way to pick up the women. According to reports, the Red Cross will initially take them to a special military unit in Gaza.
They will then be transferred to a military facility in Israel, near the border with Gaza, where they will receive preliminary medical examinations before being taken to a hospital to be reunited with their families.
In turn, The Israeli Prison Service has begun the necessary procedures for the release of Palestinian prisonersin compliance with the terms of the ceasefire agreement reached with Hamas. A spokesman for the service confirmed receipt of a list of prisoners who will be transferred to a central reception point at Ofer prison, near Ramallah.
Upon arrival, the prisoners will be identified by representatives of the International Red Cross and will remain on hold until the Israeli captives held in Gaza are handed over. The Red Cross will then be responsible for transferring Palestinian prisoners from Ofer prison to designated release points.
The genocide is not over
Since October 7, 2023, the State of Israel unleashed a genocide on the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip, which included the destruction of infrastructure, schools, hospitals and homes, as well as a systematic policy of ethnic cleansing that forced the forced displacement of a large part of the population.
According to figures from the health authorities of the Gaza Strip, more than 46,000 Palestinians were killed by Israel during attacks over the last year and three months. The majority of the dead are civilians – women, children and the elderly. Another 110,000 people have been injured, more than a quarter of whom are now living with life-changing injuries such as amputations, severe burns and head injuries.
In addition, it is estimated that some 10,000 more people, many of them missing, are buried in buildings collapsed by the Israeli attacks. Due to a lack of heavy equipment or fuel to dig through the steel and concrete ruins, their bodies could never be recovered.
In fact, a study published this month by The Lancet magazine concluded that the official balance underestimated deaths from traumatic injuries in the first nine months of the attacks, so “the real mortality figures probably exceeded 70,000” people.
In terms of infrastructure, at least nine out of ten homes in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or damaged, according to the latest UN figures. Schools, hospitals, mosques and cemeteries, businesses, roads and infrastructure such as sanitation and desalination plants have also been repeatedly attacked. The latter caused epidemics of diseases due to the terrible sanitary conditions and dehydration to which hundreds of thousands of Gazans were subjected.
The Israeli genocide also included a systematic policy of ethnic cleansing with forced displacement of people, nearly 1.9 million people have been displaced, 90% of the population, and many of them have been forced to move repeatedly as the The Israeli Army sent them to supposed “safe areas” which they then ended up bombing. In fact, refugee camps have been bombed repeatedly.
Hundreds of thousands of people now live in extremely overcrowded tent camps and shelters, with poor sanitation and limited access to clean water, At the time of reaching a ceasefire agreement, the majority of the Gazan population does not have a home to return to.
The brutality of this genocide, broadcast live to the entire world, generated international outrage both with the State of Israel and the Netanyahu government, and with the governments of the imperialist countries allied to Israel and complicit in the massacre. Hundreds of thousands of people mobilized in the United States, Europe and other countries around the world, as well as within the Arab world, to challenge the Zionist genocide. In those countries, a new generation of young people stood up in support of the people and the Palestinian cause in a way that had not been seen in decades.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
