{"id":418519,"date":"2025-02-11T20:16:22","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T19:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2025\/02\/11\/gaza-cessate-fuoco-fragile-hamas-bibi\/"},"modified":"2025-02-12T12:51:26","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T11:51:26","slug":"gaza-ceasefire-seems-on-the-brink-of-collapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2025\/02\/11\/gaza-ceasefire-seems-on-the-brink-of-collapse\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaza ceasefire seems on the brink of collapse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels – The ceasefire in the Gaza Strip<\/strong>\u00a0already appears to be on the brink\u00a0of collapse. Amid surreal plans for mass deportations and failure to release the hostages, there are increasing doubts about the ability (or willingness) of both sides to keep to the terms of the agreement<\/strong> that temporarily ended more than a year of devastation in the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave<\/strong>. While Tel Aviv threatens to resume hostilities<\/strong>, in East Jerusalem,\u00a0Israeli police raid bookstores<\/strong>, sparking\u00a0condemnations from MEPs.<\/p>\n

The fragility of the truce<\/h3>\n

Not even a month has passed since the historic three-stage ceasefire <\/strong>that Israel <\/strong>and Hamas<\/strong>\u00a0signed on Jan. 15<\/a>, which went into effect four days later,\u00a0allowing for the suspension of hostilities in Gaza<\/strong> – where the bloody offensive unleashed by Tel Aviv<\/strong> in response to the Oct. 7, 2023<\/strong> attacks had been ongoing\u00a0for over\u00a015 months – and\u00a0was already beginning to teeter dangerously<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Yesterday (Feb. 10), the Palestinian militant group announced that it plans<\/a> to delay\u00a0indefinitely the release of Israeli hostages still alive<\/strong>, citing “violations” of the agreement by the Jewish state<\/strong>. Hamas has declared its willingness to proceed with the next hostage and prisoner exchange<\/strong>, scheduled for Saturday (Feb. 15), claiming that yesterday’s announcement aimed\u00a0to put pressure on Tel Aviv<\/strong> “to fulfill its obligations.”<\/p>\n

\n

\u05d0\u05dd \u05d7\u05de\u05d0\u05e1 \u05dc\u05d0 \u05d9\u05d7\u05d6\u05d9\u05e8 \u05d0\u05ea \u05d7\u05d8\u05d5\u05e4\u05d9\u05e0\u05d5 \u05e2\u05d3 \u05e9\u05d1\u05ea \u05d1\u05e6\u05d4\u05e8\u05d9\u05d9\u05dd – \u05d4\u05e4\u05e1\u05e7\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05e9 \u05ea\u05d9\u05e4\u05e1\u05e7, \u05ea\u05d9\u05e4\u05e1\u05e7, \u05d5\u05e6\u05d4 “\u05dc \u05d9\u05d7\u05d6\u05d5\u05e8 \u05dc\u05dc\u05d7\u05d9\u05de\u05d4 \u05e2\u05e6\u05d9\u05de\u05d4 \u05e2\u05d3 \u05dc\u05d4\u05db\u05e8\u05e2\u05d4 \u05e1\u05d5\u05e4\u05d9\u05ea \u05e9\u05dc \u05d4\u05d7\u05de\u05d0\u05e1 pic.twitter.com\/4Cx30kHGvN<\/a><\/p>\n

– Benjamin Netanyahu – \u05d1\u05e0\u05d9\u05de\u05d9\u05df \u05e0\u05ea\u05e0\u05d9\u05d4\u05d5 (@netanyahu) February 11, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/strong> (against whom the International Criminal Court <\/strong>issued\u00a0an arrest warrant<\/a>) warned today that if the hostages are not released by Saturday at noon, “the ceasefire will end and the IDF<\/strong> (the Israeli Defense Forces, Ed.<\/i>) will resume heavy fighting<\/strong> until Hamas is defeated.”<\/p>\n

Defense Minister\u00a0Israel Katz <\/strong>already yesterday had put the armed forces “on high alert” with orders to prepare for “any scenario in Gaza.”\u00a0<\/strong>Finance chief Bezalel Smotrich<\/strong> has repeatedly threatened to pull out of\u00a0the coalition government if the war does not resume<\/strong> after the return of the hostages.<\/p>\n

Trump’s\u00a0role<\/h3>\n

After all, with the return of Donald Trump<\/strong> to the White House, Washington’s stance on the ongoing crisis in the area has hardened significantly – think of the surreal plan<\/a> of transforming Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East,”<\/strong> in what has sounded like an outright invocation of\u00a0ethnic cleansing<\/strong> – and Bibi seems unable to believe that he can count on such a level of intransigence from the all-powerful American\u00a0ally.<\/p>\n

Just yesterday, Trump explicitly refused<\/a> to recognize nearly 2 million Gazawi refugees the right to return to their\u00a0land<\/strong>, suggesting instead to deport them permanently to Egypt and Jordan<\/strong>, while the US would take control of the Strip<\/strong> to build there the Las Vegas of the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n

\"Donald<\/a>
US president Donald Trump (photo: Imagoeconomica)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sabotage of negotiations?<\/h3>\n

For this reason,\u00a0Hamas finds\u00a0unconvincing<\/strong>\u00a0Washington’s commitment<\/strong> to ensuring that Tel Aviv\u00a0complies\u00a0with the ceasefire. Israel,<\/strong>\u00a0in turn, is suspected of having no genuine\u00a0intention of implementing the painstakingly\u00a0negotiated plan. Qatari mediators<\/strong>\u00a0have been sounding the alarm for days about the danger of a breakdown\u00a0due to Netanyahu’s inflammatory rhetoric<\/strong> and the overly muscular approach<\/strong>\u00a0adopted by\u00a0the Israeli delegation in agreeing on the details of the second phase (which should include the return of all hostages<\/strong> still alive and the complete withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Abu Obeida<\/strong>, spokesman for the militant group, accused the Jewish state of hindering the return of Palestinians<\/strong> to the north of the Strip, blocking the arrival of humanitarian aid,<\/strong> and indiscriminately attacking civilians<\/strong>. No more hostages will be released until Israel “adjusts and compensates for the past weeks,” he said.<\/p>\n

Some relatives of the hostages share the reading that Bibi is<\/strong>\u00a0voluntarily sabotaging the deal.<\/strong> “The deliberate procrastination<\/strong> and Netanyahu’s unnecessary provocative statements<\/strong> have interrupted the implementation of the agreement<\/strong>,” argues Einav Zangauker<\/strong>, mother of a young man still in captivity. Under the agreements, during the first phase of the ceasefire,\u00a0Hamas is expected to return 33 hostages,<\/strong>\u00a016 of which were\u00a0already released, and eight are reportedly dead<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Benjamin<\/a>
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (foto: Charly Triballeau\/Afp)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The raid on East Jerusalem<\/h3>\n

And it does not go in the direction of easing relations the raid<\/strong>\u00a0by Israeli police forces\u00a0on Sunday<\/a> (Feb. 9)\u00a0on\u00a0the Palestinian Educational bookshop<\/i> in East Jerusalem<\/strong>, with the\u00a0destruction of merchandise<\/strong> for sale, the\u00a0seizing of an unspecified number of books<\/strong>\u00a0that allegedly\u00a0potentially “glorified terrorism,” and the\u00a0arrest<\/strong> of the owner Mahmoud Muna<\/strong> and his nephew Ahmed<\/strong>, who were finally released this afternoon.<\/p>\n

“An event of emblematic gravity<\/strong>,” said\u00a0some PD MEPs (Lucia Annunziata<\/strong>, Annalisa Corrado<\/strong>, Sandro Ruotolo<\/strong>, Cecilia Strada,<\/strong> and Marco Tarquinio<\/strong>). “The destruction of the books inevitably evokes similar episodes from an unacceptable history of the past<\/strong>,” the PD\u00a0<\/i>statement continues, referring to the book burning<\/strong>\u00a0in the Third Reich,\u00a0emphasizing again that such\u00a0“unbelievable actions” only occur in “fascist states.”<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The past few hours have seen a back-and-forth of accusations between Hamas and the Israeli government, who blame each other for not abiding by the terms of the agreement reached less than a month ago. Netanyahu, backed by Trump, ups the stakes: “If you don’t hand over the hostages, we’ll start the war again.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7876,"featured_media":418515,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25707],"tags":[25890,26411,27224,30427,28690,25889,30428],"class_list":["post-418519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-politics","tag-benjamin-netanyahu-en","tag-gerusalemme-east-en","tag-gas-and-3","tag-hamasat","tag-hostages-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7876"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418519"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":418572,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418519\/revisions\/418572"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}