Hamas fighters, a Palestinian resistance group based in Gaza, launched an unprecedented attack inside Israel On October 7. On that day, 1,200 Israelis and citizens of various countries lost their lives in the attack by Hamas fighters. In addition, more than 240 people were captured from Israel and brought to Gaza by Hamas fighters. The Israeli authorities were shocked by the actions of Hamas.
However, after declaring war on October 7, Israel started indiscriminate bombing of Gaza. Then on October 28, the ground attack began. More than 14,800 Palestinians were killed in the brutal attack by Israeli forces in Gaza. Among them more than 10 thousands were women and children. In addition, more than 30,000 Palestinians were injured.
Israel and Hamas agreed to a four-day truce at this stage of the war. The ceasefire started on Friday at 7 am local time (11 am Bangladesh time).
Hamas decided to release 50 Israeli hostages and Israel will release 150 Palestinians from prison. Israel has suffered a major shock in this matter, because the release of Palestinian prisoners means that the popularity of Hamas will increase.
In this regard, Analyst Mahjoob Zweiri, who is the director of the Gulf Studies Center and professor of contemporary Middle East politics at Qatar University, says the release of Palestinian prisoners is a “dilemma” for Israel due to the corresponding gains in popularity for Hamas, reports Al Jazeera.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Zweiri said the moment Palestinians are out of prison, those who negotiated for their release become de facto “in power”.
“Hamas has been in power many times because of the release of Palestinians. With [former Israeli soldier held in Gaza] Gilad Shalit, 1,100 Palestinian prisoners were released and 1,100 families believe that Hamas is the main player behind this,” said Zweiri.
He noted that there were Palestinians yesterday in the occupied West Bank who were “chanting for Hamas”.
“This is not helping the Palestinian Authority (PA),” Zweiri said. “It will be difficult with more captives released, with more Palestinian prisoners released, for the PA to accept this. However, they have no other options, because at the end of the day, this is the only card on the table.”
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
