Can the Cease-Fire in Gaza Hold?
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What is the current status of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire?
From The New York Times, I'm Rachel Abrams. This is The Daily. Today, as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas enters its final phase, no one knows who will control the future of Gaza. Israel, Hamas, or possibly President Trump? My colleague, Jerusalem Bureau Chief Patrick Kingsley, walks us through this delicate moment and the questions hovering over the future of the war. It's Wednesday, February 26th. Patrick, we're in the final days of the first phase of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which was outlined very clearly in terms of what each side had to give to the other. And now we're entering into this next phase, which is not yet negotiated and could lead to more talks, but it could also end up leading just to more war, which we'll get to in a moment. But just to start, how, in your estimation, has this first part of the process actually gone?
How has the hostage exchange affected the ceasefire?
Several mini crises aside, it has gone roughly to plan. And that plan was to exchange 33 hostages held in Gaza by Hamas and its allies for roughly 1,500 Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in Israeli jails. Just to recap... At the start of the war, Hamas and its allies raided Israel, captured roughly 250 hostages, both dead and alive, brought them back to Gaza. Some of them were exchanged in a previous hostage for prisoner deal in late 2023. A handful have been rescued in Israeli military camps. operations but roughly 100 were still in captivity in january when this ceasefire was sealed and the deal allows for roughly a third of them most of them alive but some of them dead to be swapped for
Palestinian prisoners who variously had been jailed 20 years ago for their role in terrorist attacks on Israelis, but also hundreds of Palestinians who had been arrested without charge inside Gaza by the Israeli military and held in difficult conditions inside the Israeli prison archipelago. And as I say, the broad picture is that those have mostly... gone as they were expected to. But there have been some immensely traumatic scenes for both Israelis and Palestinians that have led to constant fears that this initial ceasefire was about to collapse. Tell us about those. Well, every Saturday, the choreography would go like this. The hostages would be released from Gaza and then, once they were free, the prisoners would be released from Israel.
What are the emotional impacts of the hostage release process?
But the spectacles of both releases drew immense pain and anger on both sides. When the three or four hostages that were supposed to be released that day were freed, they were put up on stage in front of cheering crowds to bombastic music, often set against banners that attacked Israel and sought to humiliate the Israeli military. The hostages themselves often looked extremely gaunt, malnourished, starved, which sent shockwaves through Israeli society. And sometimes they would be interviewed on stage, seemingly against their will, asked humiliating questions about their time in captivity or asked to send messages to the Israeli political leadership. On the Palestinian side, there were also some uncomfortable scenes of prisoners emerging from Israeli prisons in very bad shape. Some of them were forced to wear clothes that said words to the effect of, we will never forgive, we will never forget, a reference to the crimes that they were jailed for 20 years ago.
And so there was anger among both societies about the way that these releases were being conducted. And that culminated in perhaps the most unsettling and disturbing hostage release ceremony of the lot last week, when the bodies of three Israeli civilians from the same family, two very young boys, Ariel Bibas and his brother, Kafir Bibas, four years old and eight months old respectively at the time of their capture in October 2023, and their mother, Shiri Bibas, a 32-year-old accountant. Those bodies were supposed to be released back to Israel last Thursday, and they were handed over to members of the Red Cross in front of big crowds of Palestinians and against the visual backdrop of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, looking like a vampire dripping with blood.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the current status of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire?
0:01–1:13
2
How has the hostage exchange affected the ceasefire?
1:13–3:23
3
What are the emotional impacts of the hostage release process?
3:23–7:50
4
Why are hostages being treated in a controversial manner?
7:50–9:42
5
Who currently holds power in Gaza amid the ceasefire?
9:42–13:24
6
What are the possible outcomes if no agreement is reached?
13:24–16:14
7
What role does President Trump's proposal play in the negotiations?
16:14–29:08