Hamas calls for Gaza ceasefire as Lebanon truce takes key ally Hezbollah out of fight
Gaza terror group says it’s ready for ‘serious deal,’ blames Israel for lack of progress; Ben Gvir tells hostage mother he’ll block agreement that entails release of ‘1,000 Sinwars’
The Times of Israel
Nov 27, 2024
Hamas indicated Wednesday that it was ready for a truce in Gaza as its key ally Hezbollah appeared to lay down arms after a ceasefire with Israel went into place, effectively leaving the Gaza terror group fighting alone.
“We have informed mediators in Egypt, Qatar and Turkey that Hamas is ready for a ceasefire agreement and a serious deal to exchange prisoners,” a senior Hamas official told the AFP news agency, at the same time accusing Israel of obstructing an agreement.
Hezbollah, which began firing rockets into Israel on October 8, 2023, one day after the Hamas massacre in southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and saw another 251 taken hostage, had initially vowed that it would not stop fighting Israel until there was also a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
Iran, the chief backer of both terror groups, also said it welcomed the Lebanon ceasefire and did not link it to Gaza.
Israel has said that a key achievement of the Lebanon ceasefire was to break the linkage between the two fronts.
A senior Hamas official tried to play down the effects of Hezbollah signing up to a separate deal.
“Hamas appreciates the right of Lebanon and Hezbollah to reach an agreement that protects the people of Lebanon and we hope that this agreement will pave the way to reaching an agreement that ends the war of genocide against our people in Gaza,” Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
Abu Zuhri blamed previous failures to reach a ceasefire deal that would end the Gaza war on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has repeatedly accused Hamas of foiling efforts.
“Hamas showed high flexibility to reach an agreement and it is still committed to that position and is interested in reaching an agreement that ends the war in Gaza,” Abu Zuhri said.
“The problem was always with Netanyahu who has always escaped from reaching an agreement,” he claimed.
Months of attempts to negotiate a ceasefire have yielded scant progress and negotiations are now on hold, with mediator Qatar saying it has told the two warring parties it would suspend its efforts until the sides are prepared to make concessions.
Last week, senior Israeli defense officials said there were emerging signs that Hamas was now open to a deal that would not include a complete end to the war and total Israeli pullout, a demand that had torpedoed previous efforts to reach an agreement.
However, other Israeli officials disputed this assessment.
The situation will be worse
Inside Gaza, some Palestinians expressed cautious hope that the Lebanon deal could be a precursor to ending the fighting in Gaza. However, others said they felt abandoned and fearful of the consequences as Israel returns its full attention to Gaza.
“The situation will be worse, because the pressure will be more on Gaza,” Mamdouh Yonis, who is currently living in Khan Younis after being displaced from the southern city of Rafah, told The Associated Press.
“They agree to a ceasefire in one place and not in the other? Have mercy on the children, the elderly and the women. We are sitting in tents and now it is winter,” said Ahlam Abu Shalabi, a woman displaced from Gaza City.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 44,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
Israel says it has killed some 18,000 combatants in battle and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7. Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
Increased pressure
Speaking Tuesday as he announced that Israel had agreed to the deal with Lebanon, Netanyahu indicated that the military would step up pressure in Gaza, highlighting the fact that a main “reason for having a ceasefire is to separate the fronts and isolate Hamas.”
“From day two of the war, Hamas was counting on Hezbollah to fight by its side. With Hezbollah out of the picture, Hamas is left on its own. We will increase our pressure on Hamas and that will help us in our sacred mission of releasing our hostages,” Netanyahu said.
“In Gaza, we dismantled the Hamas battalions and killed close to 20,000 terrorists. We killed [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, we killed [military chief Mohammed] Deif, we killed senior Hamas officials and we brought 154 hostages back. We are committed to bringing them all home, the 101 hostages still in Gaza, those who are still alive as well as the dead, and end the terrible anguish of their families. We are of course committed to completing the annihilation of Hamas.”
In Israel, the hopes of the hostage families that Israel could now move swiftly to reach a deal with Hamas were dampened when far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir vowed that he would veto any deal that would see a mass release of Palestinian security prisoners in exchange for the hostages.
Ben Gvir and fellow far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich have long threatened to bring down the government rather than allow a Gaza deal, and have been pushing for Israel to occupy the Strip and possibly reestablish settlements there.
Ben Gvir on Wednesday got into a heated debate with the mother of a hostage being held in Gaza after she accused him of being more concerned with putting settlements in the Strip than with the fate of captives held there.
Sparring with the minister at a Knesset National Security Committee meeting, Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zaungauker, said that “yesterday you said that the hostages need a little bit of patience,” prompting a vehement denial from Ben Gvir.
On Tuesday evening, Ben Gvir was asked about the possibility of a hostage deal during an interview with Channel 12 and answered that “we need some patience to bring Hamas to its knees.”
Zangauker, a vocal government critic, said that the hostages who are no longer alive are buried dozens of meters below ground, but Ben Gvir wants to build roads and towns “and settle Gaza on their blood without bringing them home for burial.”
“This isn’t Jewish values,” she asserted as Ben Gvir shook his head and looked pained. “The hostages are suffering in body and soul and you’re allowing this to continue. Where is your cry for redeeming hostages and solidarity? Why not agree to a hostage deal?”
Asked how long he would leave her son in captivity and why he believes a hostage deal would be dangerous, Ben Gvir responded that October 7 mastermind Sinwar was released during the 2011 deal for captured soldier Gilad Shalit and that a new agreement would likewise result in the freeing of dangerous terrorists.
Israel has an obligation to “do everything to release the hostages but we also have a responsibility for the lives of Israeli citizens. I will not allow the release of 1,000 Sinwars under any circumstances,” Ben Gvir said.
It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
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