Majority of Israelis want to stick with ceasefire rather than returning to war: Poll
The poll of 600 members of the public by Israel’s national broadcaster Kan asked: “Should we continue to phase two of the deal and end the war or return to fighting now without securing the release of all of the hostages?”
Some 61 percent of respondents said Israel should continue to phase two of the deal, 18 percent said Israel should return to war in Gaza, and 21 percent said they were unsure.
Hamas and Israel are set to hold another exchange of captives and prisoners today as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, before progressing to the second phase of negotiations, which are expected to resume early next week in the Qatari capital Doha.
Ceasefire looks set to continue; Netanyahu ‘only person’ who wants to see it end: Analyst
Rami Khouri, a distinguished public policy fellow at the American University of Beirut, said the Gaza ceasefire deal is fragile but it appears to be back on track after days of tensions between Hamas and Israel.
“This was the most significant tension that we have had in this situation since it started and the fact that it was overcome, I think, suggests that the full ceasefire is going to continue. The really tough part is now phase two,” Khouri told Al Jazeera.
Negotiations in the next phase will have to tackle the difficult issues of the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the rebuilding of infrastructure and establishment of new governance structures in the Palestinian territory, he said.
“I think it is going to go ahead because everybody is benefitting from it, the only person who really wants it not to go ahead is Netanyahu – for his personal incumbency. But he seems to be overpowered by the American desire for the ceasefire, the skill of the Egyptian and Qatari negotiators and their insistence on getting this done, and the desire of Hamas and the Palestinians to have the ceasefire continue.”
Netanyahu was waiting for a ‘green light’ from Trump to resume the war
Sami al-Arian, director of the Center for Islam and Global Affairs at Istanbul Zaim University, told Al Jazeera that Israel has not been “fulfilling” their part of the ceasefire deal, specifically its commitment to allow 600 aid trucks to enter Gaza every day.
Al-Arian added that while discussions about phase two of the ceasefire deal were supposed to start on day 16 of the ceasefire, this has been delayed because Prime Minister Netanyahu “did not want to start [in case] he gets the green light from Trump, basically allowing him to resume the war”.
