After 460 days of fighting in Gaza the Israeli Government and Hamas have finally agreed to a ceasefire last week. With more than 46,000 Palestinians estimated to have been killed by the IDF this deal shows a glimmer of hope to at least a pause in the conflict over Gaza. The first effect of this ceasefire agreement was a prisoner swap which happened on the 19th. Three Israeli prisoner of Hamas, three women, were exchanged for approximately 90 Palestinian civilians. Israel will also be pulling its troops back from Gaza and allowing civilians to return to their homes, or whats left of them. Civilians on both sides are holding out hope that this ceasefire holds and neither side moves to resume the conflict. This ceasefire however is worrying some that it may give the Israeli Government the bandwidth to be able to once again focus their attention on to the illegally occupied west bank and support the ever increasing tensions between illegal settlers and the local Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority. We must though take all the hope we can get and I for one am feeling hopeful for this ceasefire.
Sources: https://www.npr.org/sections/the-picture-show/2025/01/19/g-s1-43590/photos-familiesisrael-hamas-ceasefire-takes-effect. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy5klgv5zv0o https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/15/what-do-we-know-about-the-israel-gaza-ceasefire-deal
