Israel and Hamas have agreed to a four-day ceasefire, expected to begin November 23, after seven weeks of intense bombardment of the Gaza Strip following Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. The arrangement is an exchange of 50 Israeli hostages taken on October 7 for 150 Palestinian prisoners, a concept originally rejected by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the conflict.
Regardless of the current ceasefire, Israel intends to “continue their military campaign” on Gaza. According to the Washington Post, bombs “[continue] to fall across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday” as we await the announcement of the ceasefire’s start, which CNN reported may begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
Netanyahu and Hamas confirmed the “humanitarian pause,” negotiated by the US, Qatar, and Egypt, for the New York Times on Wednesday. The pause in fighting will also allow for more aid to flow into Gaza, though aid to the area has thus far failed to match the 500 trucks daily that were received prior to October 7.
It’s expected that the ceasefire and exchanges will begin on Thursday, in part so that the Israel Supreme Court can review the pact, meaning that peace in the next few hours is, per the Times, still “fluid.”
Since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, when some 1,200 were killed (originally reported as 1,400) and over 200 were taken hostage, the Gaza Health Ministry has reported that over 14,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1.6 million Gazans have been displaced.
In recent weeks, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have struck hospitals where civilians have been in refuge from the bombing, alleging that tunnels beneath the hospitals are used by Hamas. NBC News reported that the IDF “could be found to have violated international humanitarian law, since hospitals, including patients and medical staff, receive special protection during armed conflict.”
On a recent news segment with reporter Christiane Amanpour, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak claimed that Israel had helped build some of the tunnels beneath Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital.
According to POLITICO, the Biden administration is embracing the four-day pause as vindication of the president's strategy thus far, while others in the administration have called the pause “simply necessary” to address the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s attacks. Anonymous administration officials also told POLITICO that they were “concerned” about the pause having the “unintended consequence” of “allow[ing] journalists broader access to Gaza and the opportunity to further illuminate the devastation there and turn public opinion on Israel.”
Since October 7, over 50 journalists have been killed, and the Committee to Protect Journalists said the war “has produced the deadliest month for journalists since statistics began more than three decades ago,” per the Guardian.
Groups that have been organizing for a ceasefire maintained their calls for a permanent ceasefire amid the announcement. “This incomplete deal makes it abundantly clear that there is no military solution to this conflict, and we must continue demanding a permanent ceasefire — which does not include $14 billion more in military weapons and bombs for the Israeli military to continue committing its ethnic cleansing campaign,” said Alexandra Rojas, executive director of Justice Democrats, in a statement, referring to a $14 billion funding proposal for Israel and Ukraine that is stuck in limbo with the Senate after passing the House.
Rojas praised the “small group of progressive antiwar champions in Congress” who have pushed the domestic ceasefire campaign, including Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar, and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. According to the Intercept’s Prem Thakker, 43 members of Congress have now joined calls for a ceasefire.
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