Last night, Israel approved a four-day ceasefire with Hamas. The release of 50 Israeli hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners is among the main points of the agreement. It is mainly women and children who are dragged free by both sides in the conflict. Over 300 truck trains with emergency aid will also be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip daily while the ceasefire is in place. The ceasefire is the first diplomatic breakthrough between the parties since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October. Almost 240 Israeli hostages are still held captive in the Gaza Strip. Israel has reportedly agreed to extend the ceasefire by one day for every quarter of hostages who are freed, writes the Associated Press. Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap) says that the agreement makes it possible to send more humanitarian aid into Gaza than has been possible so far. – A ceasefire is something we have wanted for a long time. We have told all parties that we want a long-term ceasefire. The Red Cross will now also be allowed to see the hostages still being held by Hamas. It is important. Believes lasting peace in the Middle East depends on a two-state solution – This conflict does not have a final military solution either. It must be found through negotiations. And I can see no better outcome in the long term than that we get a two-state solution, a legitimate Palestinian state that lives in peace next to Israel and that they figure it out with each other, says Eide. While the world’s attention is directed towards Gaza, we must use the opportunity to discuss such a solution if we are to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East, believes Eide. – In the endless darkness we have seen for many weeks, there is a tiny bit of hope that the surrounding countries and the central major powers internationally have now once again discovered that the Palestinian issue must be resolved. Remember that many Arab states were in the process of entering into peace agreements and getting on good terms with Israel without going through what they saw as a detour via the Palestinian issue. I don’t think that will work. From the Norwegian side, we believe that a lasting peace solution in the entire Middle East depends on us achieving a two-state solution, says the foreign minister. Swedish Israel expert: – Very bad deal for Hamas Hamas seems to have gotten surprisingly little out of the negotiations for an interim ceasefire with Israel, says the Swedish Israel expert Anders Persson. – If you look at it holistically, it looks like a very bad deal for Hamas, he says to the TT news agency. – The ratio between hostages and prisoners is 1 to 3, which is much worse than it usually is, continued Persson. He adds that the emergency aid that is going to Gaza is not seen in context enough. – Emergency aid comes in 300 trucks or something like that, which corresponds to three days’ consumption. He points out at the same time that there is much that is not known about the agreement yet, writes NTB. China, the EU and the USA react The USA has been central in the work to get the agreement together with Qatar and Egypt. – I am very happy that some of these brave souls will be brought back with their families when this agreement is fully implemented, says US President Joe Biden. The American president confirms that American hostages are expected to be released as a result of the agreement. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also welcomes the agreement between Israel and Hamas, and says the EU will use the break for humanitarian aid. – The European Commission will do its utmost to use the break as a humanitarian boost for Gaza, says von der Leyen. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi also welcomes the interim ceasefire and says he hopes it will help with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, writes Reuters.
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Espen Barth Eide hopes the upcoming ceasefire will be long-lasting
