A triumph for an Israeli security establishment that has appeared otherwise bogged down in a long war against Hamas, the hostage rescue is also a tactical victory for the United States, which supplied Israel with crucial intelligence. Deliverance for all 116 remaining hostages is a legitimate Israeli objective and a high Biden administration priority — as it should be because five of those being held against their will are U.S. citizens.
There is much we still do not know about what happened as Israeli forces fought their way in and out of the crowded Nuseirat area of central Gaza Saturday. One key data point is the precise Palestinian death toll; alas, it is surely substantial. Hamas officials in Gaza report more than 200 killed; Israeli sources speak of fewer than 100. Neither said how many were noncombatants or fighters. Clearly, though, Palestinian civilians lost their lives as the Israelis, supported by tanks and airstrikes, maneuvered in a carefully selected battle zone. (The combat cost one Israeli officer his life.)
What is safe to say is that everyone killed Saturday would likely still be alive if Hamas’s forces had not seized hostages — as part of an operation on Oct. 7 in which they also intentionally killed hundreds of civilians — and deliberately held them in a densely populated area.
Equally certain, but the opposite of a reason to rejoice, is the fact that the civilian body count in Gaza was already far too high. And the enclave’s physical destruction after months of Israeli air and artillery strikes against deeply embedded Hamas troops was far too extensive. Some dozens of food trucks are able to enter Gaza per day but Israel continues to impose tight conditions on humanitarian shipments, and the aid is well below what’s needed; perhaps most important, lawlessness and war continue to hamper its distribution. Two United Nations agencies said Wednesday that, if hostilities continue, at least 1 million Palestinians in Gaza are at risk of starvation by the middle of July. That is nearly half the enclave’s prewar population of 2.3 million.
These numbers bespeak immense human suffering — especially for Gaza’s children — and the urgency of halting the fighting. There is a way to achieve that, at least temporarily: the plan President Biden unveiled, under which a six-week truce would enable a surge of humanitarian aid and an initial exchange of Hamas’s hostages (Israel believes 41 of the 116 are dead) for hundreds of Palestinian militants held in Israeli prisons, as well as an Israeli pullback from populated areas. Two subsequent phases would allow for talks on a more permanent cease-fire, a final hostage release and reconstruction.
Mr. Biden said that it is an “Israeli” plan — an assertion promptly undermined when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government quibbled about the terms. Mr. Netanyahu is loath to agree to commit to a path toward a permanent cease-fire while Hamas controls Gaza. Opposition leader Benny Gantz’s Sunday resignation from Israel’s war cabinet, in protest of the prime minister’s lack of a long-term plan for ending the war or freeing all the hostages, is a sign of Israeli disagreement with Mr. Netanyahu’s posture that still runs deep even after the hostage rescue.
Yet the Biden-backed plan represents the most forthcoming one Israel has entertained so far. For its part, Hamas has balked, with its military leader in Gaza, Yehiya Sinwar, reportedly telling Arab mediators that he will accept nothing less than a permanent cease-fire and total Israeli withdrawal. This, despite the suffering of Gaza’s people and, reportedly, threats from Qatar’s government to expel Hamas political leaders and freeze their assets. On Sunday, national security adviser Jake Sullivan portrayed Hamas as the main obstacle to a deal, telling CBS News’s Margaret Brennan that “if Hamas would say yes … a better day for the Palestinian people would begin to unfold.”
The impact of Saturday’s hostage rescue on prospects for a deal is unclear. It might harden both sides’ positions, by making Mr. Netanyahu confident of military victory and Hamas determined to avenge an embarrassing defeat. Secretary of State Antony Blinken returns to the Middle East this week for more long-shot negotiation. Those who genuinely seek a better day for the Palestinians — and Israelis — will be wishing him success.
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