The truce in the Gaza war entered this Sunday into the third and penultimate day of the ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas, although more and more official sources are confident that the cessation of fighting could be extended for four more days, starting Tuesday.
During this day, the third exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners took place: 17 kidnapped people were released – 14 Israelis and 3 Thais -, while 39 prisoners left the Ofer prison, in the West Bank. The third release occurred in the afternoon, as planned, it did not suffer the uncertainty of Saturday, when Hamas delayed the delivery of the hostages to the Red Cross until almost midnight.
But in addition to the usual scenes of kidnapped people being freed and crossing the Rafah crossing, the image of the day featured the Israeli Prime Minister, Beniamin Netanyahu, who, by surprise, moved to Gaza to support his troops. The exact place where the premier was was not revealed but his press office released images of Netanyahu speaking with soldiers dressed in bulletproof vests and military helmets.
“We will continue until the end, until victory. Nothing will stop us and we are convinced that we have the power, the strength, the will and the determination to achieve all the objectives of the war,” Netanyahu said during a tour of the Palestinian enclave in which visited Hamas tunnels and met with Israeli troops deployed in the area, according to a statement from his office.
“We have three objectives in this war: eliminate Hamas, return all our kidnapped people and guarantee that Gaza does not become a threat to Israel again,” he said in a video distributed by his office.
The exact location in Gaza where Netanyahu was was not revealed, but photos and a video of the prime minister wearing a helmet and bulletproof vest in the midst of Israeli troops were released.
For his part, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, Herzi Halevi, carried out this Sunday an evaluation of the situation in the Southern Command and approved the plans to continue the war once the ceasefire is over, the Army indicated in its account. of the social network X (formerly Twitter).
On Saturday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also visited his troops in the Gaza Strip and assured that the ceasefire will be brief. “Any future negotiations will be under fire. That is, if they want to continue discussing the next [deal], it will be while bombs are falling and forces are fighting,” Gallant said.
Meanwhile, this Sunday has become the third consecutive day of hostage releases in Gaza. The Red Cross has received 17 hostages released by the Islamist group Hamas, including 14 Israelis and three Thais, according to the Israeli Army and the armed wing of Hamas, the Al Qasam Brigades. This news comes after a last-minute dispute on Saturday threatened to derail a fragile four-day truce.
Israel and Hamas have agreed to exchange 50 hostages held by the Palestinian militant group for 150 prisoners in Israeli jails during this period. Since Friday, Hamas has freed 26 Israelis, some with dual nationality, as well as 14 Thai citizens and one Filipino citizen, while Israel has freed 78 Palestinians.
Egypt, which is helping mediate the deal, says it has received lists of 13 Israelis and 39 Palestinians whose third release is scheduled for this Sunday.
It is the first interruption in the conflict since Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking around 240 hostages.
In response to that attack, Israel vowed to destroy the Hamas militants who rule Gaza, bombing the enclave and mounting a ground offensive in the north. Palestinian health authorities say about 14,800 people have died, about 40% of them children.
