Gaza in the Twilight of a Ceasefire

TEHRAN (Defapress) - Israel's military radio reported on Saturday that, following Netanyahu's orders, the army has halted its military operations in Gaza City and is preparing to implement the first stage of Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of hostages. Accordingly, military operations in Gaza will be reduced to a "minimum," and the occupying army is only permitted to carry out what it refers to as defensive strikes.

Donald Trump called for an end to the bombing of Gaza on Friday night, following Hamas's conditional agreement to a prisoner exchange and after two years of conflict. Despite this, Israel continued its attacks on the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

During Israeli airstrikes on a house in Gaza City and the bombing of a displacement camp in the Al-Mawasi area, at least six Palestinian civilians, including two children, were martyred. Furthermore, Israeli drones targeted a line of people near a bakery in central Gaza City, resulting in dozens of martyrs.

An Arabic-speaking spokesperson for the Israeli army warned on Saturday that residents should not return to northern Gaza, as the Israeli army remains active in that area.

Hamas has conditionally agreed to the release of the remaining 48 hostages and the transfer of executive power in the Gaza Strip, and has requested negotiations on other parts of Donald Trump's plan.

Following Trump's approving reception of Hamas's response, Netanyahu is facing internal and international pressure to implement the ceasefire plan, which has garnered widespread support globally and within Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced on Friday that Israel is committed to ending the war in Gaza.

Yair Lapid, the leader of the Israeli opposition, stated: "The Trump plan is a real opportunity to free the hostages and end the war, and I will support Netanyahu in continuing negotiations and finalizing the agreement."

According to Israeli media reports, the regime's negotiation team has been tasked with preparing to resume talks and implement the first stage of the Trump plan. Although the final details of the plan and its implementation method remain unclear, the process of reaching an agreement appears to be accelerating. Positive statements from both Trump and Hamas indicate that the possibility of ending the Gaza war is stronger now than in previous months. It should be noted that previous ceasefire efforts failed during the negotiation stage.

A senior Hamas official told AFP on Saturday that Egypt is organizing a conference for Palestinian groups to decide on the future of the Gaza Strip after the war, a path that Hamas has introduced as a continuation of the Trump plan.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement announced its support for Hamas's response to the Trump plan. In a statement, Islamic Jihad declared that Hamas's response represents the common position of the Palestinian resistance groups. The support of Islamic Jihad, which holds several Israeli hostages, is a key indicator of other Palestinian groups aligning with Hamas to advance the Trump plan.

The 20-point Trump plan calls for an immediate cessation of the war in Gaza, the release of 48 Israeli hostages within 72 hours in exchange for the release of over a thousand Palestinian political prisoners, the gradual withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas, and the establishment of a transitional body to administer the Gaza Strip led by Trump himself. The plan also calls for the extensive delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and the reconstruction of devastated areas.

In its response to the Trump plan, Hamas made no specific mention of disarmament, an issue that must be resolved in future negotiations. The people of Gaza, after nearly two years of devastating bombardment, hunger, and displacement, are desperately calling for an end to the war.

Israel's genocide in Gaza has so far killed at least 67,000 Palestinians and injured approximately 170,000, with the majority of casualties being civilians. Israel launched this war in retaliation for the Al-Aqsa Storm operation on October 7, 2023, during which approximately 1,200 Zionist citizens were killed and 251 were taken hostage.