By Abdel Raouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) - An Israeli military and security analyst said Wednesday that Hamas will use an announced humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip to garner international support to halt the Israeli war.
Yossi Yehoshua, in an article for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, expressed that Hamas' leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, “will gain a degree of legitimacy after releasing 50 hostages out of more than 239, assisting him in securing a complete halt to hostilities.”
The Qatari Foreign Ministry announced early Wednesday the success of a humanitarian pause agreement in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, mediated with Egypt and the US. The pause is for four days and is extendable. The timing of its commencement will be announced within 24 hours.
The agreement, as per the ministry's statement, involves a swap of 50 Israeli hostages, including women and children in Gaza in the initial phase.
In return, there will be the release of a number of Palestinian women and children detained in Israeli prisons, with the numbers expected to increase in later stages of the agreement.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala