GNITN – Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 49
Trust But Verify

First Hostages Released

So far, so good when it comes to getting hostages back as 13 Israeli hostages are back in Israel. We read more on this from an article in The Times Of Israel

(see https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-november-24-2023/?utm_source=article_hpsidebar&utm_medium=desktop_site&utm_campaign=13-israelis-including-4-kids-back-in-israel-after-held-hostage-in-gaza-for-49-days#liveblog-entry-3162279):

The 22 freed hostages who were first taken for checks at the Hatzerim airbase upon returning to Israel have been airlifted to several different hospitals around the country where they have arrived and are being reunited privately with their families.

Two other freed hostages were taken directly to hospitals upon returning to Israel.

The hostages were moved to Cairo, Egypt and then to Israel. The reason for this is seen in a further quote from this liveblog:

Israel reportedly moved for the hostages to be released through Egypt after they were initially planned to be transferred directly into Israel from Gaza, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

The decision was made in an effort to give Cairo an added boost of credit for its efforts in securing the release of the hostages.

Analysts speculate that Israel is going to want to boost the role of Egypt at the expense of Qatar once the war draws to a close over long-held fears that Doha operates duplicitously and is too close to Hamas and Iran.

More Than Israeli Hostages

According to a report from i24news.tv we read about this exchange (see https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/1700833588-hamas-releases-12-thai-hostages) :

Following an intervention by Iran, Hamas on Friday released 10 Thai citizens and a Philippino abducted in the course of October 7 massacre.

Bangkok believes 26 of its citizens were abducted on October 7.

Iran, the paymaster of the Palestinian jihadists, has provided Bangkok with details on the condition of the Thai abductees set to be released.

Thousands of Thais worked in Israel’s agricultural sector prior to the October 7 massacre; they make up the biggest group of foreign people killed or missing in the Hamas attacks.

To get more about these releases, we go back to an article by The Times Of Israel (see https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-november-24-2023/?utm_source=article_hpsidebar&utm_medium=desktop_site&utm_campaign=13-israelis-including-4-kids-back-in-israel-after-held-hostage-in-gaza-for-49-days) :

The 11 foreign nationals have arrived at Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center in Be’er Yaakov for evaluation by medical staff.

The hospital reports that all 11 of them are in good condition.

The foreign nationals are welcomed by diplomats from Thailand and the Philippines as well as representatives from the Israeli government.

Second List Of Hostages Given To Israel

The Times Of Israel provides us with details for the second hostage release to happen on Saturday in Israel (see https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israel-receives-list-of-hostages-slated-for-release-on-saturday/):

Israel has received the list of hostages who are slated to be released by Hamas on Saturday — the second day of the truce, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announces.

After reviewing the list, Israeli security officials notified the hostages’ families, the PMO says.

Yesterday, Israeli authorities notified both the families of the hostages being released as well as those who were not on the first list.

Channel 12 reports that the latest list is 13 names, as it was today, but includes more children.

Only four of the 13 Israelis released today were children.

Netanyahu’s office urges the media to act with caution and avoid publicizing the names of those on the list before they are back in Israel.

Broken Promise Already?

While the first set of hostages and prisoners has occurred apparently without a hitch, Hamas appears to be breaking a part of it already as we read in this report from The Times Of Israel (see https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/1700820042-will-icrc-visit-hostages-the-question-mark-around-the-deal):

Hamas (is) said to refuse the Red Cross to visit the remaining hostages while Israel insists it was a part of the initial deal.

Hamas refuses to allow the workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit the hostages and evaluate their health condition, following the signed real, said on Friday a pro-Qatari outlet The New Arab. The terrorist group suggests that it conducts its own assessment and provides it to ICRC.

According to the report, Hamas believes that "any information related to the hostages must come at a price paid by Israel."

Meanwhile, Israeli officials insist that the organization's visit was a clause in the initial ceasefire deal.

It is hard to work with Hamas when they are always trying to change the terms to suit themselves even after an agreement was in place. I said in another video that this was the kind of things I expected, but hoped wouldn’t happen.

How Hamas Views This “Ceasefire”

While many in other cultures see a pause or ceasefire as a break from fighting, in the Muslim mind, there are words that they use that are anything but simply a ceasing of war. We turn to David Bedein, who has run the Israel Resource News Agency at Beit Agron Center in Jerusalem since 1987 for a deeper look at how Hamas is looking at this deal (see https://israelinsightmagazine.com/2021/05/18/for-hamas-a-cease-fire-is-really-anything-but/):

The current “cease fire” proposal now discussed in Gaza is anything but a cease fire.

Indeed, a real “cease fire” might result in the kind of armistice that ended hostilities in World War I, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, on Nov. 11 1918, paving the way to the Versailles peace treaty and the genesis of the League of Nations.

However, the three Arabic nuanced terms discussed with Hamas have nothing to do with a “cease fire.” Those terms are Hudna, Tahadia and Hudaybiyyah, all three terms imply continued war, after a respite.

Bedien goes into the etymology of each word to explain:

Hudna — a tactical pause intended only for rearmament, and a temporary respite in the war between Islamic forces and non-Islamic forces.

The authoritative Islamic Encyclopedia (London, 1922) defines hudna as a “temporary treaty” which can be approved or abrogated by Islamic religious leaders, depending on whether or not it serves the interests of Islam; a hudna cannot last for more than 10 years.

Tahadia — a temporary halt in hostile activity which can be violated at any time.

Hudaybiyyah — An understanding that there will be no fighting for 10 years, named for the “treaty of Hudaybiyyah” in 628 C.E. The Islamic Encyclopedia mentions the Hudaybiyyah treaty as an “ultimate hudna.”

The key word in his assessment are the words are “abrogated” and “violated.” “Abrogated” is defined as this:

formal : to abolish by authoritative action : annul. abrogate a treaty. 2. formal : to treat as nonexistent : to fail to do what is required by (something, such as a responsibility)

“Violated” is pretty easy to understand, but I’ll give it’s definition just to be thorough:

to break or act against something, especially a law, agreement, principle, or something that should be treated with respect.

Trust But Verify

This line was made famous by former President of the United States Ronald Reagan in relation to his dealings with the former Soviet Union. And you hear tones of it in the words of the leaders of Israel who obviously know what it means. Bedein takes a little trip down memory lane to further understand why Israel is wary of the current deal:

The late PLO leader Yasser Arafat often referred to “a hudna” in his speeches when he defined and described the nature of the Oslo Accords.

In the words of the Islamic Encyclopedia, “The Hudaybiyyah treaty, concluded by the Prophet Mohammad with the unbelievers of Mecca in 628, provided a precedent for subsequent treaties which the Prophet’s successors made with non-Muslims. Mohammad made a hudna with a tribe of Jews back then to give him time to grow his forces, then broke the treaty and wiped them out. Although this treaty was violated within three years from the time that it was concluded, most jurists concur that the maximum period of peace with the enemy should not exceed 10 years, since it was originally agreed that the Hudaybiyyah treaty should last 10 years.”

Hudna, Tahadia and Hudaybiyyah — the only options on the table with Hamas — do not compare to the “mu’ahada” treaty of peace that Egypt signed with Israel in 1979, or the mu’ahada treaty of peace that Jordan signed with Israel in 1994.

How many people remember that three hudnas already concluded in recent years with Gaza?

How many people remember what occurred during those hudnas? Well, the people in Sderot and the Negev region of Israel remember.

Current Examples

Bedien concludes his article this way to emphatically warn us about the current “hudna:”

From Nov. 26, 2006, until May 15, 2007, a Hudna between Hamas and Israel went on for almost six months. One cannot ignore the statement made by Hamas five days before the hudna went into effect: “Hamas’s military wing will stop the rocket fire when residents evacuate the city of Sderot” (from Nov. 21, 2006).

During that hudna, Gazans launched 315 missiles targeted at Sderot and the western Negev, according to an IDF spokesman.

And there was another hudna with Gaza which lasted until the end of December 2008, which witnessed 878 attacks fired from Gaza.

And there was a hudna from the end of Operation Cast Lead on Jan. 18, 2009, to the first day of Operation Pillar of Defense on Nov. 12, 2012. During that period, approximately 2,000 rockets and missiles were fired from Gaza, sending one million Israelis running to shelters.

And from the end of operation Pillar of Defense, through June 30, 2014, 300 aerial attacks were launched from Gaza towards southern Israel — during yet another tenuous Hudna.

What country would tolerate one missile fired into its territory… and agree to a Hudna, Tahadia and Hudaybiyyah that promises yet more aerial attacks?

The time has come for Middle East pundits to warn that a Hudna is anything but a cease-fire.

And now we know how to pray more specifically for Israel and the IDF. Trust but verify indeed.