Still Praying for a Ceasefire

I've waited to write a blog today because of expected news about a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza. If this finally occurs it will be an answer to protests and prayers that have continued for 15 months. 

 Six months, almost to the day, from the beginning of our visit to Israel in 2023 the terrorist organization Hamas began an attack on southern Israel from Gaza. Within hours 1200 Israelis were dead and hostages were hurried back into the tunnels of Gaza. Many innocent people died, some of them who had worked for mutual understanding and peace for years. 

Israel retaliated almost immediately and the destruction of the Gaza territory has continued  unabated except for a brief ceasefire to exchange hostages and prisoners. A report just issued claims that about 64,000 Gazans have died, a significantly higher number than enumerated by the Palestinian health authority. By my math that's more than 50 Palestinians for every Israeli killed and thousands of the dead are children. At the same time hospitals, schools, places of worship, museums and archives have been obliterated. It is Winter in Gaza and people are living in tents with barely enough food to survive. People die every day, some from military attacks, some from starvation. 

We had a wonderful time in Israel as Ruth's sister and brother-in-law, residents in Israel for more than 30 years, took us from one end of the country to the other, at times passing close to Gaza as we travelled. They now live in the United States, having retired, but they were traumatized by what unfolding in the months before they returned to North Ameria, 

We saw them last week when they were in Canada and we chose not to discuss what has transpired because we have very different outlooks. We're all Christians and we all decry anti-Semitism, but Ruth and I are appalled by the level of destruction in Gaza and feel passionately about the Israeli response. I suppose we have a shared desire that this senseless loss of life come to an end in the land that is so important to the three great monotheistic religions. 

So, we wait, and hope, and pray. Here is the BBCs report today on what the ceasefire might entail: 

What could be in a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas?

It is hoped that a ceasefire deal will mean an agreement to stop the war which has been raging in Gaza.It is also expected to see an exchange of hostages and prisoners.Hamas seized 251 hostages when it attacked Israel in October 2023. It is still holding 94 captive, although Israel believes that only 60 are still alive.Israel is expected to release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, some jailed for years, in return for the hostages.

How would the ceasefire work? 

This ceasefire is expected to happen in three stages, once a deal is announced. Details are still being ironed out. Until an agreement is finalised, it is subject to change.

First stage 

A Palestinian official told the BBC that in the first stage, 34 hostages - expected to be civilians - would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners. Three hostages would be released straight away, with the rest of the exchange taking place over six weeks.During this stage, Israeli troops would also begin pulling out of populated areas in Gaza.The Palestinian official said detailed negotiations for the second and third stages would begin on the 16th day of the ceasefire. 

Second stage 

In the second stage, the remaining hostages - soldiers and reservists - would be released, in return for a number of Palestinian prisoners.Of the 1,000 Palestinian prisoners Israel is thought to have agreed to release, about 190 are serving sentences of 15 years or more. An Israeli official told the BBC that those convicted of murder would not be released into the occupied West Bank.During this stage, Israel would also allow displaced people now in the south of Gaza to return to the north.Almost all of Gaza's 2.3m population have had to leave their homes because of the fighting.

Third stage 

The third and final stage would involve the reconstruction of Gaza - something which could take years. The Israeli official said Israeli forces would remain in a buffer, or security, zone inside Gaza during any ceasefire.