Two Israeli soldiers were injured in a ramming incident in the Jordan Valley, and the attacker was neutralized

The real differences between Israel and Hamas, which threaten the truce and threaten the resumption of the war soon, do not revolve around what each party announces about the number and type of prisoners. Rather, they go back to the conclusion drawn by each party for the war, which fundamentally contradicts the other. Rather, it seems clear that it will not be achieved. Israel cannot annihilate Hamas and achieve victory over it, nor can Hamas defeat Israel and achieve victory over it.

Of course, there is disagreement about the type of prisoners. The truce so far talks about exchanging prisoners of women and children under the age of 19, of whom 81 have been released so far (4 of them were released by Hamas before the deal as a gesture of good faith, and 77 were released as part of the deal), and it is assumed that Their number will increase with the launch of the seventh wave of the truce. Israel says that Hamas has so far left 11 foreigners and 134 kidnapped Israelis, 3 of whom are children and 10 elderly people over the age of 75, in addition to 27 women and 118 men, including male and female soldiers. Hamas is asking for another price for these people, not three for one as has happened so far, but Israel refuses.

Salty baklava!

It appeared from the beginning that Israel was going towards the truce and the exchange deal under its compulsion and not its will. It does not want to see Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli captivity, raising the sign of victory.

Although those she released were “light prisoners” of children and women, and were not people with life sentences and large sentences, she tried to dampen their joy of freedom, by raiding their homes and warning their families against any signs of joy.

When residents flocked to Ofer Prison to receive the liberated prisoners, the forces brutalized them and fired stun grenades, tear gas, rubber bullets, and even deadly live bullets.

In East Jerusalem, they raided their homes and expelled journalists and relatives from them. She summoned the families of the prisoners to receive them at the Al-Maskobiyya Police Station, and held them there for long hours, as if they were detainees, then handed them funny instructions such as “No distributing sweets,” which made people mock them, and a joke spread saying that “the people of Jerusalem invented salty baklava to distribute to well-wishers.”

The Israelis preferred to continue the war until Hamas was broken, or to find prisoners to be released by force, or both. When they were forced under pressure from the families of the prisoners, supported by large crowds, the officials relented and agreed to the deal. But they did not hide their extreme anger and rage. Before releasing every Palestinian prisoner, male and female, they bade him and her farewell by beating, torturing, and humiliating them. They decided not to complete the deals to free the rest of the prisoners.

On the other hand, Hamas was keen to show humane dealings with the liberated Israeli prisoners. Its young men accompanied them and helped the helpless women, and left them with friendly greetings, and even an embrace on one occasion.

It became clear that Hamas considers the release of every Palestinian male and female prisoner a great gain that it is proud of before the Palestinian people.

Despite the massive destruction that occurred in Gaza due to the war, and the frightening number of martyrs, wounded and displaced persons, which is a very high price, the release of the prisoners attracts more popularity and glorification to Hamas. Prisoners are considered by the Palestinians to be the greatest sacrificers, and they are respected to the point of reverence.

High ceiling

But the problem lies in the post-war period. In Israel, they have drawn up high-level war plans that are almost impossible to achieve: annihilating Hamas, destroying its rule in the Gaza Strip, liquidating its leaders in Gaza and elsewhere, and releasing the hostages by force. By the way, they revealed other plans to deport the people of Gaza to Egypt or to the sea.

In the background, arrogance was prominent. The Israeli army, which is considered one of the strongest armies in the world, received a severe blow from the Hamas attack, and its prestige was shaken in front of the Israeli public and in front of the armies of the world that admired it. He wants to regain this prestige at any cost. It managed to destroy a third of the Gaza Strip, killing about 20,000 Palestinians, including 5,300 soldiers (according to Israeli data), and destroying infrastructure, schools, mosques, churches, and hospitals. And it’s not enough. He wants the Palestinians to pay a higher price. He wants this war to be engraved in the Palestinian memory as a second catastrophe, so that they do not dare to “insult” the Israeli “master” again.

This interest of the army has coincided with the agenda of its opponents on the ruling right, especially with the staunch extremists in the leadership of the Likud Party and the parties of Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who want to annihilate Gaza and the West Bank, and deport the people of Gaza, the people of the West Bank, and even the Arab citizens of Israel. They consider this war a “season of liquidation” for the Palestinian cause. In order to justify this madness, they always upload pictures of the effects of the Hamas attack on Israeli civilians on October 7th, which show the bodies of burned children, entire exterminated families, body parts, captive children, including an infant girl, and helpless elderly men and women.

On the other hand, Hamas is motivated by the euphoria of the harsh strike against the Israeli army, which was carried out by a few hundred young elite members, during which they were able to penetrate a fortified electronic wall and a defense line that cost billions, take control of 11 military barracks and 22 towns, and confiscate valuable materials about the Israeli army and its military plans. (which was given as a gift to Iran and others). The movement wants to have a solid position in the leadership of the Palestinian people with the value of this achievement. It wants Israel to break and accept Hamas as a decisive element in the region. Because it does not read the Israeli, regional and global map well, it is confident that it will achieve its goal and will see Israel on its knees. Preparations are being made to hold victory celebrations over the rubble and deep wounds of Gaza.

Rational efforts

In the absence of humility, and in light of this distance from rational positions that put the interests of the people, the real victims of the war, above all else, many powers, most notably the Arab countries, are making extraordinary efforts to stop the war and its scourges, put an end to the suffering on both sides, free the hostages and prisoners, and turn the disaster around. To an opportunity, by opening horizons for a radical solution to the conflict that ends wars and begins a new and ambitious path to build a different future in the entire region. They are trying to formulate a breakthrough that leads to a comprehensive peace between Israel and all Arab countries on the basis of ending the occupation and establishing a Palestinian state that enjoys disarmament and the achievement of independence, freedom and prosperity.

At present, obstacles to this path are placed by those leaders (in Israel and the movement), whose people are supposed to be the first to benefit from this trend. If they had acknowledged that there are limits to power, no matter how large and exaggerated it is, the picture would have been completely different and we would not have been stuck in the complexities of small deals and short or long-term truces in this way, and we would not have been on the brink of war again.