Israel Briefing Day 509: Ceasefire crisis resolved - Phase 1 to be completed

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The crisis that was preventing Phase One of the ceasefire from completion appears to have been resolved – and the fix is expected to bring four more Israeli bodies home today or tomorrow.

Hamas has announced that Israel will release the 602 Palestinian prisoners who were due to be freed this past Saturday, but who were kept in Israel because Jerusalem is furious about the humiliating handover ceremonies that the terror group has been holding for Israeli hostages and hostage remains.

In return, Hamas will release four more bodies, without any ceremonies. The bodies will be rendered to the Red Cross in Egypt and released to Israel at the same time as the prisoners are freed.

In related news, a military site where 53 soldiers were killed and ten kidnapped during the October 7 attacks was being guarded at the time by just one soldier, an IDF investigation has reportedly found.

The military probe on the fate of the Nahal Oz outpost is not officially public, but Channel 12 claimed yesterday to have received some early access to the findings.

The TV station said that Hamas had gathered precise intelligence on the outpost’s weak points and launched a three-wave assault, with 65 terrorists in the first, 50 in the second, and 100 in the third. When terrorists arrived, there were 162 soldiers at the base, but only 90 were armed.

The military reportedly found that there were some warnings of suspicious movements from soldiers the previous night, but this did not lead to extra precautions. The investigation concluded that if soldiers had been in defensive positions, the outcome of the attack may have been less disastrous.

And former hostage Noa Argamani gave an impassioned address to the United Nations Security Council yesterday, urging diplomats to do everything they can to keep the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement alive.

Addressing the council, she said that the fate of 63 hostages hinges on the agreement. She described her own abduction from the Nova Festival and recalled the terror of being held with eight-year-old Emily Hand and 12-year-old Hila Rotem.

Elsewhere, a report has found that Israeli universities are facing hundreds of academic boycotts from foreign institutions. The research, by Israel’s Association of University Heads, documents more than 500 complaints from Israeli institutions or academics who have been subject to boycotts or antagonism which they believe is stemming from boycotts since October 2023, and cases have risen sharply in recent months.

Antagonism towards Israel is impacting research collaborations and journal publications, according to the report. In Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and elsewhere, universities have cut ties with Israeli institutions. Authors observed that, while boycotts were previously dominated by students, they are now increasingly driven by faculty and institutions themselves.

Back in Israel, the first funeral from bodies returned in the current ceasefire was held yesterday. The octogenarian Oded Lifshitz, who was murdered in Gaza, was buried yesterday at the kibbutz he founded, Nir Oz.

President Isaac Herzog delivered a eulogy, apologising for the state’s failure to safeguard his life and his community. Herzog said that he embodied the “quintessential Israeli spirit” and called Lifshitz “a Zionist, a humanist, a kibbutznik, a man of conviction and action.”

The funeral of Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas is taking place today, and crowds are already lining streets to pay respects to the procession.

The Bibas family issued a statement saying how moved Yarden, husband and father of the deceased, is to see so many people. “We see and hear you, are moved and strengthened by you,” said the family. “Yarden says he apologises for not being able to come down and give each and every one of you a hug.”

Meanwhile, opposition politician Yair Lapid laid out a plan for post-war Gaza yesterday, during a presentation in Washington. According to his proposal, Egypt should take responsibility for Gaza for the next 15 years.

In return, the international community should erase Egypt’s $155 billion in foreign debt. In a tweet after his presentation, Lapid wrote: “After nearly a year and a half of fighting, the world is surprised to see Hamas still in control of Gaza. No one in this government has offered a realistic alternative.”

In Lapid’s analysis, Hamas must not be allowed to rule Gaza, and the Palestinian Authority is incapable of doing so. Lapid wants Egypt to oversee security and reconstruction instead, with the help of other states, including Saudi Arabia, and investment from the US.

Finally, the IDF has struck military sites in Syria which it says posed a risk to Israel. The overnight operation came amid Israeli concern over forces in Syria operating close to the Israeli border and calls for demilitarisation of southern Syria.

The IDF announced yesterday that it had hit “military targets in southern Syria including command centres and multiple sites containing weapons.” It added: “The presence of military forces and assets in the southern part of Syria poses a threat to the citizens of Israel. The IDF will continue to operate in order to remove any threat to the citizens of the State of Israel.”

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