Israel Backs Down On Hamas Demands

The other major story today is that Israel appears to be backing down on its ceasefire brinkmanship in Gaza. Barak Ravid reports for Axios that according to an unnamed Israeli official, Israel has told mediators that it will abide by the ceasefire terms as long as Hamas releases three hostages on Saturday as originally planned.

This would be a significant walk-back from the Netanyahu regime, who shortly beforehand had been insisting that Hamas must release “all” hostages on Saturday, which went against the terms of the ceasefire agreement.

Additionally, the aid requirements Hamas had been demanding now appear to be flooding in from Israel. Palestinian journalist Abubaker Abed reports from the Gaza Strip:

Thousands of tents and caravans have entered Gaza. The situation is becoming more stable, and aid has been flowing in consistently over the past hours.

The same is true in terms of medical aid as local reports indicate that at least five medical aid trucks have gotten into Gaza during the last 24 hours.

The ceasefire will likely hold as Hamas gears up to release the three Israeli prisoners on Saturday in exchange for dozens of Palestinian hostages.

Israel is beginning to allow a surge of aid instead of a trickle.

It’s hard to see this as anything other than a win for Hamas. The ceasefire became jeopardized when Hamas announced it would be delaying the scheduled release of Israeli hostages until Israel began abiding by the ceasefire, and Israeli officials have been admitting to the press that Israel was violating the ceasefire while Hamas was not. Hamas demanded Israel hold up its end of the bargain and Israel made some threats, but apparently eventually backed down. Perhaps Tel Aviv was just practicing the Israeli tradition of “shitat hamatzliah”?—?just trying to do whatever you want to do and seeing if you get away with it.

So all is not lost. Amidst all the madness of this world, peace may yet get a word in edgewise.

The trigger for an unusually harsh media campaign against the Israeli Prime Minister was a statement Netanyahu made in an interview last week about the “establishment of a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia”.

Saudi Arabia has launched a scathing campaign against Benjamin Netanyahu in the state media, reflecting growing frustration in the royal court of the key Gulf state over the Israeli prime minister and the war in Gaza.

The unusual media drumbeat, which could only be published with the approval of the authorities, began after US and Israeli officials hinted at the possibility of normalizing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, despite Riyadh's insistence that this depends on the establishment of a Palestinian state. The trigger was a statement made by Netanyahu in an interview last week about the establishment of a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia.

Ceasefire on the brink: Hamas rejects Trump's ultimatum

“The Saudis can establish a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have large territories there,” Netanyahu told Israel's Channel 14 television station. In response to Saudi Arabia's public statements that a Palestinian state was a precondition for normalizing relations with Israel, Netanyahu said he would ”not conclude an agreement that would endanger the state of Israel.”

In a report by the state news channel Al Ekhbariya, Netanyahu was pointedly described as a “Zionist and son of a Zionist ... who has inherited extremism in his genes”. It continues: “The occupation has neither a good nor an ugly face. It has only one face and that is Benjamin Netanyahu.”

The Saudi-owned Al Arabiya channel aired a talk show in which the presenter asked questions about Netanyahu's state of mind. “Maybe it was a case of hallucination?” the presenter asked. A columnist for the daily newspaper Okaz described the Israeli Prime Minister's remarks as “silly and ridiculous”.

Before the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Saudi Arabia was on the verge of a tripartite agreement with the Biden administration. In return, the kingdom would have received a defense pact with the US and support for its nuclear program.

The debate over the fate of the Palestinians in Gaza was fueled by President Donald Trump's shocking suggestion on Tuesday that the US would “take over” Gaza from Israel and create a “Middle East Riviera” after resettling the Palestinians.

Despite worldwide condemnation of Trump's claims, the Israeli army was ordered on Thursday to prepare plans for the transfer of large numbers of Palestinians from Gaza via land, air and sea routes.