Little to Rejoice About
The deal that has been struck between Israel and Hamas is obviously on one level a cause for celebration.
33 of the hostages who will be released include, so it is reported, the Bibas children, who were abducted on October 7th, and the Ethiopian-born Israeli, Avraham Mengistu, who crossed into Gaza in 2014 and whose family says that he is mentally unstable.
Obviously, for all of their families, their release will provide immense relief. Their suffering is unimaginable and has consumed them for over 15 months not knowing whether their loved ones were still alive given the inhumane conditions under which they were being held.
However, the price that is being paid is high: 50 terrorists for each civilian released and 50 for each female soldier.
While women, the elderly and the sick will be freed, male soldiers who have been taken captive will not be reunited with their families. They will continue to suffer and be unable to sleep at night even as they know that the nightmare of others has finally come to an end. In some ways the release of some of the hostages may even make it harder for them.
Not only is this deal problematic because so many of those kidnapped are still being held captive, but Israel, whose soldiers are still in the Gaza Strip, will also pay a heavy price in terms of its ability to restrict further weapons reaching Hamas terrorists via Egypt.
The primary reason for our soldiers being in the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egyptian border is to prevent weapons and ammunition entering the Gaza Strip. However, the agreement includes the withdrawal of Israeli troops from that area.
Prime Minister Netanyahu claims that Hamas gave up its demand for Israeli forces to be withdrawn from the Philadelphi Corridor. However, details of the agreement that have been revealed indicate that Israel will gradually reduce the number of its soldiers in that area and will complete its withdrawal in no more than fifty days.
Furthermore, we shall also have shown our enemies once again that it is worth capturing Israelis, who can then be used as bargaining chips to force the release from prison of terrorists with blood on their hands.
The war against Hamas is far from over. Our soldiers are still being killed and wounded in the Gaza Strip every day. Hamas is still a formidable force and is reported to have recruited enough new terrorists to replace those killed by Israeli forces over the past 15 months. No one knows who will govern Gaza once the current conflict is over even were Israel able to fulfil one of the unachievable stated objectives of this war of destroying Hamas.
Netanyahu will no doubt use the release of the hostages as a photo opportunity to show how Israel has successfully forced Hamas to capitulate. However, unfortunately, we are far from achieving victory.
So, yes. Of course, we are happy for those families who will finally be reunited with their loved ones who will have been released from hell. However, there is little to rejoice about if we pan out and look at the bigger picture.