After the successful release of the three female hostage yesterday the next 7 days will be very long days indeed as will the days until day 42 when all the hostages should be returned .
People in Israel have been on a roller coaster of emotions over the past 24 hours. Elation and joy seeing , Emily Damari (28), Romi Goren (24) and Doron Steinbecher (31) emerge from the chaotic fray into the custody of the Red Cross, and then flown by helicopter to a specially prepared hospital to be firstly re-united with their mothers and then accessed.
A young bandaged hand missing two fingers became the symbol of bravery and defiance last night, not unlike Churchill’s victory sign. We understand that at least 2 of the girls had suffered bullet wounds on October 7th while trying to flee the Hamas terrorists.
The scenes showing the journey of the hostages were quite appalling, as it become clear that Hamas are still very much in charge both militarily and politically.
In Israel, there really wasn’t a dry eye, or a heart that wasn’t beating too fast, as people were glued to the television screens awaiting the much anticipated tense moments before the release.
Not so much interested in the 90 prisoners who left jail to return to their villages in the West Bank, and are expected to continue in their terror activities ; if the last exchange is any indication !
After 15 months of intense fighting , Hamas militants crawled out their protective tunnels,looking pretty healthy, donned their uniforms and trademark black balaclavas and used their usual intimidating tactics controlling the cheering crowds as they celebrated their “victory” sporting their large machine guns.
What was surprising was the condition of the “innocent civilians “ who surrounded the militants. The Gazans survived the so called famine and the genocide incredibly well. They looked well fed and well turned out and sent the usual message of defiance supporting Hamas. So no change there.
The leaders have promised another October 7th and it does seem for them no price is too high in order to kill Jews. They do however, need this ceasefire desperately to regroup and retrain their new volunteers.
The hope from the Israeli side is that will not replenish their arsenal of weapons so easily. That will mostly depend on the Egyptians, who will have the choice to police their borders , or to once again turn a blind eye and allow a terrorist organisation to flourish on its border.
We must hope that Trump has the sense to put forward a very lucrative package to the Egyptians to monitor and inspect goods arriving in Gaza, block off any existing tunnels, and stop the very lucrative smuggling. Egypt is a very poor country already relying on billions of dollars in aid from the US, so we must hope that in the usual Tump style “Money talks “ works.
It’s very difficult to imagine the “day after” in Gaza, and who can govern such a wild place, that has brainwashed its people from birth. There is no industry except terrorism. When Israel evacuated the area 19 years ago, there was a flourishing agricultural industry left intact for the Gazans to continue trading with Israel in vegetables and flowers from hothouses. Today, the unemployment rate is a staggering 80% and the youth know nothing except Hamas, and have become crippled by their reliance on aid.
The rehabilitation of that area and the destruction of their ideology is not a task any other Arab country is willing to undertake and least of all Israel. The PA are struggling to control their areas in the West Bank and will be quickly killed in Gaza. The future looks grim and the whole strip lays in ruins. If the scenes yesterday are anything to go by Hamas are not defeated and the people are not deterred ! We don’t know for sure, if this was just a condensed Pallywood photo opportunity showing strength or if this indicative of the whole of Gaza.
The delay yesterday morning was caused by the lack of a list which was sent in the last minute and we can expect a repeat of this next week when more hostages are scheduled to be released .
Israel is now on a slippery slope having shown terrorists that we will negotiate, and we will pay a very high price for hostages. Israelis and especially soldiers are now the most valuable asset for terrorists and no Israeli is safe from kidnapping.
We do not know if we will manage to get to stage 2 or stage 3, which would see an end to the war, or even after those awful scenes yesterday, that looked like a militarised out of control zoo, we have a moral duty to finish off Hamas.
For the moment though Israel is doing the moral thing and bringing back the hostages, but at an unknown price.
Kind Regards
Carolyne Davis