Senior officials and military leaders in the Israeli army fear that extending the truce in the besieged Gaza Strip will weaken Israeli military efforts against the Hamas movement, while Tel Aviv faces increasing pressure to extend the truce period scheduled for only four days so far as part of its war on the besieged Gaza Strip.

In total, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Hamas handed over 39 Israeli hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross, some of whom hold dual nationalities in addition to Israeli citizenship, while the Israeli occupation authorities released 117 Palestinian prisoners. All those released are women and children.

Over the past three days, Hamas also released 18 non-Israeli foreigners, in a measure that was not included in the agreement, in addition to a young Israeli man who holds Russian citizenship, “by direct arrangement between the Russian representatives and Hamas,” according to what the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed.

The agreement, which was brokered by Qatar and with the participation of the United States and Egypt, stipulates the release of fifty Hamas hostages in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners over the four days of the extendable truce. This would increase the number of hostages that Hamas might release.

This comes as a result of mounting internal pressure in Israel to extend the truce with Hamas in exchange for the release of more hostages, in light of security circles’ fears that this may give the movement greater scope to regroup, recover, rearm, and return to fighting, according to analysts.

Increasing diplomatic pressure

This agreement also increases diplomatic pressure on Israel from the international community, which will withdraw its support for the renewed bombing of Gaza with the resulting humanitarian crisis. Andreas Krieg, professor of defense and security studies at King's College London, says that time is working against Israel, as it always does, and against the Israeli army.

Craig added that the longer the truce continues, the more the international community becomes impatient with the continuation of the war, while the Israeli army and security circles express their determination to achieve the declared Israeli goal of “eliminating” the Hamas movement. This was expressed by the Israeli Minister of Security, Yoav Galant, during a visit to the Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, on Saturday.

Gallant stressed that the timeline for the truce is "short," explaining, "It will not take weeks, it will take days to some extent." Surrounded by heavily armed soldiers, he added, “Any further negotiations will take place under fire.” The Israeli army, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also sought to stress during the days of the truce that the liberation of the hostages would not have been achieved without “military pressure.”

In turn, Arik Rudnitsky, a researcher at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle East and African Studies at Tel Aviv University, said, “The real pressure (to extend the truce) comes from within Israel, from the families of the hostages.”

On Saturday evening, a massive demonstration took place in the streets of Tel Aviv in which tens of thousands participated to demand the release of the hostages, during which the protesters, who carried pictures of the hostages, chanted, “Free them now.” One of the signs read: “Get them out of hell.”

For his part, an Israeli military official said that Israel is committed to releasing the largest number of hostages, but he expressed concern that the longer the truce lasts, Hamas will have more time “to rebuild its capabilities and attack Israel again.” The military official added, speaking to Agence France-Presse, "It is a terrible dilemma."

“There is no military solution to this conflict.”

On the other hand, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said there was a need to “maintain momentum” for a permanent ceasefire. He added, "This can only be achieved when there is political will, not only on the part of Israelis and Palestinians, but also on the part of other partners who work with us."

On Friday, US President Joe Biden confirmed that there were “real opportunities” to extend the four-day truce in Gaza, saying that it was time to work to “revive” the two-state solution to establish peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Andreas Krieg, a professor of defense studies at King's College London, considered that Washington is not prepared for an intensive operation that "continues for months without interruption," especially with the US presidential elections approaching next year. He explained, "Therefore, the Biden administration needs to find a way out as well." He stressed that "there is no military solution to this conflict, and it cannot be won."

The Hamas movement announced, in a statement issued after the implementation of the third batch of prisoner exchanges, that it seeks “to extend the truce after the end of the four-day period, through serious research to increase the number of released detainees, as stated in the humanitarian truce agreement.” The movement's official, Taher Al-Nono, confirmed that Hamas is "ready to seriously discuss new deals."

For his part, former Israeli intelligence official, Avi Melamed, said that Hamas "will procrastinate with the hostages to try to exhaust this card for as long as possible and at the highest price that this may pose to Israel." He believed that Hamas was hoping that support within Israel would dissipate for the incursion into the Gaza Strip.

Melamed said that Hamas would have liked, “Ultimately, international and internal pressure on the Israeli government would create conditions in which Hamas could continue to exist and rule Gaza even after the end of this war.”

The independent researcher in Middle East affairs, Eva Koulouriotis, considered that, “For Hamas, any scenario for this war that does not lead to the end of its presence in the Gaza Strip will be considered a victory (...) regardless of its human and material losses, the extent of the destruction in Gaza, and the size of the losses among civilians.” ".