Hamas wants to extend the terms of the truce, it has said yes for another four days, thus bringing the truce to 12 days. Qatar has been reporting for days that its diplomatic intent is to reach a perpetual truce in Gaza. And on November 29, Washington declared that it is trying to reach an agreement that leads to a long-term truce in Gaza. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken: “We will focus on efforts to extend the truce in Gaza.”
But Israel will not easily accept perpetual truce beyond the time needed to release Israeli prisoners, especially if the soldiers can be brought home. Israel’s Channel 12 said: “Smotrich and Ben Gvir threaten to dismantle the government and withdraw from it if a permanent ceasefire is reached in the Gaza Strip, following ongoing talks in Qatar.”
On November 29, Hamas released two prisoners of Russian origin outside the agreement, “as a sign of appreciation for the commendable positions of President Putin”, we read in the group’s statement and it is also stated that another 10 Israelis will be released thus reaching six releases on both sides. The same group from the Qassam brigades with the al Quds brigade using the same means always releases the Israeli prisoners. A clear sign that detention is a group issue.
Of interest is that the Pentagon declared that intelligence drone flights over Gaza have been interrupted since the beginning of the truce. This is a sign that now in Gaza, Hamas and its allies can move freely in the tunnel networks without being targeted by drones. And therefore it is not known where the prisoners are held. Giving the militias an advantage over the Israeli army which has not yet completed the series of arrests against the attackers of October 7th.
Hamas, together with Islamic Jihad, has also made it known that the terms and rules of the agreement on the exchange of prisoner Israeli soldiers will be completely different from the terms of the current truce. Egyptian press sources speak of negotiations to free 44 prisoners accused of life imprisonment, led by “Marwan Barghouti, Ahmed Saadat, the six heroes of the Freedom Tunnel”, in exchange for the release of the detained Israeli general, “former commander of the Division of Gaza,” and a ceasefire for a month. No confirmation from official sources of this possible exchange.
The Director of the World Health Organization reported that 1.3 million people are currently living in shelters in Gaza. The Red Crescent stated that: “The association distributed the largest number of humanitarian aid reaching the governorates of Gaza and North Gaza. The mission entrusted to the Palestinian Red Crescent, in particular, faces numerous challenges and difficulties Among the challenges: “the difficulty of receiving and unloading Egyptian trucks and then loading them onto Palestinian trucks, due to the inadequacy of the Rafah pedestrian crossing to accommodate a large number of trucks at the same time. One of the main reasons limiting entry of a greater number of trucks in northern Gaza is the presence of a large number of trucks assigned to international organizations in the front rows that must be emptied. And exit the intersection to allow the entry of trucks destined for the Crescent.”
The association has not yet managed to bring fuel and work is underway to deliver ten thousand liters, allowing the association’s ambulances to continue running for two weeks, as the ambulance service is still working in northern Gaza. The association is fully coordinating the movement of aid through the Wadi Gaza checkpoint, through the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA), thanking them for their efforts. We call on the international community to work to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid in quantities much larger than those delivered so far and to open additional crossings to facilitate the entry of aid, including the Kerem Shalom crossing.
While the prisoners of the fifth exchange were being welcomed in Israel, the hunt for the perpetrators of the October 7 attacks began. The assault lasted 18 hours: thirty-five people arrested including a Hamas leader, Mahmoud Shabana. The Palestinian Mujahideen Movement stated following the attack in the West Bank that: “The Zionist aggression against the occupied West Bank requires an escalation of resistance. Through the aggression, the occupation is trying to market a false victory after its defeat before the heroes of the resistance in the Al-Aqsa flood”.
In the meantime, farmers in Gaza are tryingto harvest picking olives in search of a pseudo-normality. The Central Bureau of Statistics in Gaza says the value of daily losses in agricultural production in the Gaza Strip due to the bombing is around $2 million.
Leaders of the Lebanese border settlements ridiculed and mocked the statement made by Israeli Defense Minister Gallant about Hezbollah: Gallant claimed that he had damaged Hezbollah and driven it away from the border. In a statement on November 29, the head of the Metulla settlement said residents would not return home until the IDF found a solution.
He claims that “Hezbollah Ridwans” have returned to the border and he can see them through CCTV footage. He concluded by rejecting Israeli officials’ claims that Western and Russian pressure is hampering their ability to operate and launch a war in Lebanon, accusing the political leadership of being cowardly.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
