Another delay today in the release of the hostages.

After a Hamas official reported that the release of the second group of hostages was underway, the military wing of Hamas announced shortly after 6 p.m. Israel time that it decided to delay the release “until the occupation adheres to the terms of the agreement related to the entry of aid trucks into the northern Gaza Strip and due to failure to adhere to the agreed-upon standards for releasing prisoners.”  In other words, Hamas is accusing Israel of breaching the agreement. 

The deal requires that Israel allow 200 trucks of food in the Gaza Strip, which already entered the enclave. Yet, earlier today, a Hamas official reported that Israel is not releasing the “Palestinian” prisoners in the order that Hamas had demanded, namely, those jailed the longest were supposed to be released first. And, to complete their allegations for today, Hamas accused Israel of firing upon Gazans who sought to return to the northern Gaza Strip, resulting in two deaths. But, according to the deal that was worked out, Gazans were barred from returning to the northern area where the IDF is operating.

From Israel’s point of view, Hamas is the one that actually violated the terms of the agreement. From the list of hostages that are supposed to be released today, it was discovered that one of the hostages was going to be freed without her mother. They were both taken by Hamas on October 7th. The hostage-release deal contains a provision that families were not to be separated in the releases. In a highly unusual move, a Qatari delegation arrived in Israel this morning, purportedly for discussions with Israeli officials regarding the possibility of extending the 4-day ceasefire. In order not to set a precedent of a direct flight from Qatar (not on good relations with Israel) to Israel, the plane stopped first in Larnaca, Cyprus, and then preceded to Israel. The delegation remained in Israel for about an hour, before returning to Qatar. But, there is widespread speculation that the Qatari delegation arrived here particularly to assist in breaking the deadlock over the release of the mother during today’s scheduled second round of hostages. Negotiations were ongoing for hours in an effort to find a solution before midnight. Israel confirmed that humanitarian aid was delivered to the Rafiah Crossing according to the agreement. But, also according to the agreement, Israel is not responsible for how or when the trucks arrive to the northern Gaza Strip. Similarly, Israel denies that it committed to releasing prisoners according to the date of their incarceration. According to the release agreement, Israel would decide which of the terrorists would be released, just as Hamas would decide which of the hostages would be released. 

The tension continued to build, as the question on everyone’s mind was focused on whether the Qatari-brokered agreement would hold. According a two major news stations here, Qatar exerted efforts to prevent the collapse of the agreement and that the results of those efforts would be evident before midnight.

Yoseph Haddad, a well-known Arab-Israeli spokesperson on behalf of Israel, reported that he “very much hopes that if Hamas does not release the hostages by midnight, then by 00:01 the gates of hell will be opened on Gaza and the IDF will bomb [it] so that there will not be a single moment of quiet during the night! [We] cannot let them play with us … Now they need to be under pressure. Agreements in the Middle East contain matters of honor and if there is a unilateral breach, then [the other side] needs to pay dearly! Against these terrorists, Israel needs to speak Arabic until the end!!”

In the meantime, Egypt intervened in the negotiations in an effort to break the stalement. According to various news reports, it apparently succeeded. Latest reports: At 11:00 p.m. Israel time, the hostages are expected to be handed over to the Red Cross, but with no change in the hostage list!

The situation in the north is beginning to drift south:

Last night, around 03:00 a.m., two very loud explosions were heard in the greater Haifa area that were the result of the IDF intercepting a surface-to-air missile launched from Lebanon by the Hezbollah terrorist group. No injuries were reported. This photo shows the fallout from the missile being shot down by the IDF..

Is Hamas losing control over decisions in Gaza? 

There are some “hopeful” reports that Hamas is beginning to lose its support, at least according to foreign Arab diplomats. In an article appearing in the Haaretz news journal, Jack Khoury wrote: “The center of gravity in the Hamas leadership’s decision-making process has drifted toward the Gaza Strip…Two Arab diplomats who were present at the meetings [with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and other senior officials indicated] that every decision regarding the future of Hamas or steps with significant political or diplomatic repercussions for the Palestinians  is made in Gaza…Meanwhile, the future of Hamas is also of interest to Fatah and other Palestinian factions. Sources in Ramallah told Haaretz that some officials have sent proposals to Hamas to lay down their weapons, leave Gaza and join PLO institutions. However, the sources added that Hamas isn’t taking such proposals seriously, especially not the leadership in Gaza.” It doesn’t appear that Hamas will be losing popularity very soon. Many of the prisoners released in last night’s hostage-prisoner exchange immediately upon their release sworn allegiance to Hamas.

Can you believe it?

The secretary-general of the “Palestinian” Islamic Jihad (PIJ) claimed that Israel was forced in the present ceasefire deal because of its military defeats in Gaza. Apparently, Ziyad Nakhalah doesn’t bother to watch the news or read any media reports about the ongoing war and the capture of northern Gaza by the IDF. Nevertheless, he warned that “Palestinian” terrorist groups will “force the Zionist enemy to exchange all the prisoners on a wider scale…The rest of the enemy’s prisoners including officers and soldiers will not be released without the release of the rest of our prisoners, and this issue is related to the end of the war and aggression…The enemy’s goals of ending the resistance and crushing it are still in place, so we must continue the battle to neutralize the enemy’s goals. The Zionist enemy will continue its aggression more brutally.” Immediately following the bloodbath of October 7th, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called to congratulate him for the “brilliant and impressive victories of the Palestinian resistance…You really made the Islamic community happy with this innovative and victorious operation..The Zionist regime is declining while the resistance front is conquering the peaks of victory.” I wonder who Nakhalah is trying to convince. It certainly is not Israel.

The Dry Bones Blog – August 7, 2014.

Have a simply fantastic week.

Bless, be blessed and be a blessing.

Marvin