The Gaza Terror Offensive – 4 February – 8 March 2024
There have been many reports of negotiations between Israel and Hamas but no concrete results. In return for handing over the remaining hostages, Hamas and its partner/rival the Palestinian Islamic Jihad are demanding a complete and final ceasefire, total Israeli withdrawal from Gaza territory, the release of all their members held in Israel (more than 5,000), and international guarantees that Israel will not renew its offensive afterwards. Israel obviously refuses to accept these conditions. Despite the media noise around demonstrations by families of hostages and groups supporting them who demand that Israel accept these demands (not all the families agree), polls show that the vast majority of the Israeli public does not agree, and so far, neither does the government. The argument put forward by those against the deal is that accepting it might save the current hostages but would cost many more times that number of Israeli lives in the future. Israel has sent a counteroffer, but details have not been published by reliable sources.