The ceasefire in Gaza, scheduled to begin this morning, has been anything but straightforward. As the agreement unfolds, many have rushed to declare who are the winners and who are the losers. Yet victory does not lie with those who made the most military gains or acted most morally – it leans, perversely, towards those ruthless enough to exploit suffering without moral restraint. In this grim theatre of war the truth is far bleaker, that among the civilized, there can only be losers.
After days of fraught negotiations, delays, and brinkmanship, the first steps of this tenuous agreement are now unfolding. The plan, as presented, is stark in its simplicity and devastating in its implications: Hamas will release a small number of abductees in stages in exchange for Israel freeing hundreds of convicted Palestinian terrorists from its prisons. Yet even as the first phase takes shape, the events of the past 24 hours have underscored just how fragile this deal is – and how easily it could collapse.
By the time the ceasefire officially began, Hamas had shown it was emboldened by the leverage it holds
The agreement itself had already sparked fierce debate within Israel, but by early morning, the deal’s implementation was already in jeopardy.
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