Getting used to peace is easy. The ceasefire in Gaza is drawing to a close today, if there is no new extension, of which there were already signs last night. It is the sixth day without combat in the strip, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people have had relief for almost a week in which they have been able to receive food and supplies, after Israel authorized the entry of humanitarian aid as part of the agreement with Hamas .
The UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) says that there are 1.7 million displaced Gazans - out of a population of two million - of which more than 900,000 are refugees in a hundred facilities in the southern strip. . Even if the extension extends a little longer, sooner or later they will return to living in the middle of war. According to Gaza health authorities, almost 15,000 people have been killed by Israeli bombs, a third of them minors.
Today, Wednesday, marks the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People and UNRWA took the opportunity yesterday to take stock of the tragedy and reiterate its request that the ceasefire in Gaza be definitive. The organization has lost 108 of its workers in the bombings and 218 refugees lost their lives while taking refuge in UN schools attacked by the army. In this sense, King Abdullah of Jordan declared yesterday that with the invasion of the strip Israel "denies human values and the right to life."
Meanwhile, the relatives and friends of the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas during the terrorist attack on October 7 continued yesterday, as they did every day, shouting slogans calling for their release in front of the entrance to the Ministry of Defense, on Menahem Begin Avenue in Tel Aviv. As night fell, they celebrated the release of twelve other kidnapped people, ten Israelis and two Thais.
This time there was only one minor, Mia Leimberg, 17 years old, who was released along with her mother, Gabriela Leimberg. On October 7, Mia decided not to part with her dog, Bella, and took her with her when she was kidnapped. In the images released last night by Hamas of the transfer of the hostages to Red Cross personnel, Mia is seen with Bella in her arms. Mother and daughter have dual nationality, Israeli and Argentine.
At the same time, Israel released 30 Palestinian prisoners in the West Bank, marking the fifth exchange between the parties.
Today the sixth and final exchange of prisoners for hostages should take place. As of yesterday, 81 people have been released from captivity – most of them women and minors – but around 159 remain kidnapped. At the same time, 180 Palestinian prisoners have been released.
The chances of a new extension of the ceasefire agreement being announced are high. The directors of the CIA, Mossad and the Egyptian intelligence service met in Doha last night with the prime minister of Qatar, a country that maintains communication with Hamas, like Egypt, trying to force a new extension of the truce, after that on Monday it was already announced that the pause would be extended for two days, after the four initially planned.
On the other hand, two symbolic gestures took place yesterday. On the one hand, the Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Persons invited the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, to visit its central camp in Tel Aviv, after at the beginning of the war the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, advised against his visit because It wasn't the right time.
At the same time, Hamas invited tycoon Elon Musk, owner of X, to visit Gaza, who traveled to Israel on Monday to strongly support the Jewish state. “We invite you to visit Gaza to see the extent of the massacres and destruction committed against the people of Gaza, in accordance with the standards of objectivity and credibility,” declared in Beirut, Osama Hamdan, one of the leaders of the Islamist organization in Lebanon.
