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news that Israel and Hamas have finally signed an agreement was greeted with an international sigh of relief on Friday, as it could mean the return of all remaining hostages who have long been held in unscrupulous conditions, as well as ending the brutal 15-month campaign in Gaza.
The first 42-day phase of the ceasefire and hostage exchange agreement will begin on Sunday, when three of the 33 hostages scheduled for release will be returned to Israel.
The exchange of 65 hostages remainingboth living and dead, will be negotiated on the 16th day of the ceasefire. However, the return of those hostages will not begin until day 43 of the agreement, which will mark the second phase of the ceasefire.
Hanukkah candles are lit in places arranged on the festival table for the Bibas family, an Israeli family that includes baby Kfir, 11 months, his brother Ariel, four, and their parents, Shiri and Yarden, who are hostages by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in the Square of the Hostages and Missing Persons, on December 9, 2023, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images)
But the relatives of the hostages still in Gaza have not yet fully rejoiced, and while many view the progress with cautious optimism, others you think the deal is not good enough.
“We are dealing with this agreement (for) more than a year, and both sides tried to achieve the best agreement for themselves,” retired Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Major General Yaakov Amidror said in a conversation with reporters Thursday afternoon.
Amidror made it clear that there was no way to achieve a perfect solution, given the immense complexities and the need to balance the value of human life with that of achieving a strategic security objective.
“This is the agreement. It’s bad. But it’s the only one through which we can get 33 hostages out,” he said. “And I think, morally, it should be done.”
Amidror noted objections to the deal that have been raised by those who maintain that the first phase should have included each and every hostage held by Hamas, as well as others who maintain that it is bad for Israeli security.
Part of the ceasefire agreement reportedly includes a plan forcing Israel to withdraw its forces along the strip to a security perimeter surrounding Israeli communities on the border with Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a meeting as the Israeli Security Cabinet meets to approve a ceasefire agreement and a prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas, in West Jerusalem on January 17, 2025. The proposed agreement , designed to end the ongoing war in Gaza, includes an exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. (Photo by Koby Gideon (GPO)/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Details regarding the IDF withdrawal remain unclear at this time, particularly as it relates to the phases of the deal and specific security corridors throughout the Gaza Strip, although The Times of Israel reported this week that The IDF intends to remain in the Gaza Strip. until the last hostage is freed.
“Israel is losing the ability to totally destroy Hamas,” Amidror said. “Israel is losing the ability to continue the momentum and no one knows what will happen after the 42 days.”
The retired major general noted that since the terms of the agreement have not been made public, it is unclear what security agreement Israel has signed with the US regarding Iran and the continued threat that Hamas – despite losing approximately 80% of its military capabilities, with an estimated at least 20,000 militants dead, raises a possible regrouping in Gaza.
Given these concerns, the Israeli far right Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir This week he reportedly threatened to resign from his position if Israel accepted the negotiated agreement.
“A lot of people don’t like it, because it is clear that Israel is losing the ability to destroy Hamas, as we promised,” Amidror said. “But we find ourselves in a situation that is the only way to bring the hostages home.”
A wall covered with photographs of hostages held in the Gaza Strip after the deadly October 7 Hamas attack calling for the release of the hostages on January 17, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. On Wednesday, conflict mediators announced a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Formal approval by Israel’s cabinet was expected on Thursday but was delayed until Friday, although mediators insisted the deal was still expected to come into force on Sunday. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)
Amidror explained that it became undeniably evident that as soon as Israeli forces advanced into the areas near where the hostages were being held, They were then killed by Hamas guards..
“We understood that there is no military way to capture them. And we had to make a decision, a very difficult one: do we hand over the hostages (lives) or are we making a deal?”
John Hannah, former national security adviser to Dick Cheney and senior fellow at JINSA Randi & Charles Wax, said it was a “torturous decision, enormously painful, but one that the Israeli people have to make.”
Hannah said that while the decision is “incredibly divisive,” polls show that most Israelis support returning the hostages rather than completely destroying Hamas.
“Hamas will be able to claim that he survived,” Hannah said. “Israel will achieve one of its main war objectives, God willing, with the return of the hostages, but at the cost… (of) the annihilation of Hamas, both in its military component and in its government.”
Smoke and flames rise after an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip on November 2, 2023. (Ali Jadallah/Anatolia)
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“The best agreement is the one that was not achieved,” Amidror said. “Here’s the deal.”
“There is no other way to release the hostages, and from within Israeli society, that was very important,” the retired major general said. “Israel is a democracy, the government should listen to what the people say.”
