Arquivo para January 20th, 2025
Difficulties and possible peace
On Sunday morning, Israel again bombed the north of the Gaza Strip, killing 8 people, due to the delay in handing over the list of hostages, Hamas admitted the delay “for technical reasons” but ratified the agreement, and issued the note: “As part of the prisoner exchange agreement, we decided to release today: Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Shtanbar Khair, 31,” said Abu Obeida, Hamas spokesman.
The three hostages released will be accompanied by IDF (army) and ISA (security) forces on their return to Israeli territory, where they will undergo an initial medical evaluation.” The hostages were held for 471 days.
The hostages were handed over to the Red Cross (photo) and sent to Israel. There are still two more stages before the agreement is fulfilled, according to several experts (such as Rubens de Siqueira Duarte, a professor in the Postgraduate Program in Military Sciences at the Army’s Command and Staff School in Brazil) it is an important step, but peace is still uncertain.
The stages are important because the path of (historical) mistrust must be overcome carefully and with goodwill on both sides, and we are now waiting for the prisoners who are Hamas militants to be released.
On the other dangerous front in Eastern Europe, Trump’s inauguration today, and the war weariness that is already present on both sides, could hasten a ceasefire, where the forces involved may prove more resistant, because they involve territorial issues that are difficult to negotiate (Russia already dominates 30% of Ukrainian territory, which only has the Kursk region taken from the Russians).
It is believed that Trump should stop supporting Ukraine and then it would be forced, in his nationalist logic that they should get involved in “America first” issues, but threats to Greenland and Canada are unacceptable for world peace.
Any agreement must also, as in the Hamas/Israel case, have bilateral concessions.
Peace is desirable, the ceasefire is a step, but to be lasting it must have fundamental aspects of peoples’ rights and humanitarian conditions respected.