The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas has now entered its second week. Over the past two weekends, Hamas has handed over seven Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of nearly 300 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, and preparations are already under way for a double exchange next weekend. But it hasn’t been without hitches.
Two days in, Israeli soldiers opened fire on Palestinian civilians as they sought to return to their homes near Gaza’s southern border, killing a child. This weekend, Hamas opted to release only soldiers, despite having agreed to first release all remaining civilian women and children. Israeli forces then delayed the return of hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza, while Hamas dragged its feet on informing Israel how many of the remaining hostages to be exchanged were alive or dead.
