War can all of sudden turn battle commanders into fastidious lawyers when it comes to terms. Protesters marching in the streets of London may be calling for a ceasefire, but that is not what either side in the Middle East wants to call the minimum four-day halt they have just agreed. Hamas calls it a “truce”, which will see 150 women and teenage prisoners released. Israel is calling it a “pause” — returning home 50 children and mothers. Brokered by the United States and Qatar, each side’s respective most trusted patron, it includes the option for Hamas to extend — whatever you call it — for the price of 10 hostages a day. Just don’t call it a ceasefire, please.
This uncharacteristic verbal precision, from both sides, tells us something. Neither wants anyone to mistake what they see as a temporary “truce” — or rather, “pause” — for the end of the war. For Bibi Netanyahu and the IDF, this is because it vowed after October 7 to rescue all its roughly 240 hostages and “destroy” Hamas.
