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Both Palestinians and Israelis have shared their mixed reactions to the announcement of a brief truce in Gaza, which will see Israeli captives held by Hamas being exchanged in stages with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

While there is a sense of excitement and anticipation at the possible release and return of a loved one, there is also a feeling of sadness and disappointment about the relentless war on Gaza and the widespread suffering.

Maha Arafat, from Nablus in the occupied West Bank, has been awaiting the release of her daughter Maryam from an Israeli jail.

“We didn’t expect the swap to be this way. So many victims in Gaza. Images that no one can comprehend,” she told Al Jazeera. “Sometimes I’ll say, I don’t want my daughter released. Just let Gaza be. We are so affected by what’s happening there.”

Mediator Qatar announced on Thursday that Israel and Hamas agreed to a four-day pause in fighting, which includes the exchange of some of the captives taken by Palestinian group Hamas during an attack in southern Israel on October 7, for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody.

The truce is set to begin on Friday at 7am (05:00 GMT). The first batch of hostages being held in Gaza – 13 women and children – will be released at approximately 4pm (14:00 GMT) and handed over to the Red Cross. Palestinian prisoners are also meant to be released on Friday.

Under the agreement, Hamas will free a total of 50 captives, while Israel will release 150 Palestinian prisoners.

About 5,200 Palestinians were in Israeli prisons before October 7, and 3,000 have since been arrested, including 145 children and 95 women.

Who among the long list of Palestinian prisoners will be allowed to leave and when is in the hands of the Israeli authorities.

Nisreen al-Titi, also from Nablus, and the sister of a Palestinian prisoner, told Al Jazeera that she has mixed emotions about her possible release.

It remains unclear if her sister Aseel – who has been in prison for more than a year after being accused by Israel of trying to stab an Israeli guard while visiting her incarcerated brother – will be freed.

But her family remains hopeful.

“Our uncle was killed, and our brother was shot while Aseel was in prison. She doesn’t know. When she’s released, she’ll see that life has changed,” said al-Titi. “Yes we are happy, but it’s definitely incomplete.”

Israel’s hardline Minister for National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir has instructed the head of the country’s prison service, Katy Perry, to quash attempts to celebrate prisoner releases within incarceration facilities, reported the Times of Israel.

He reportedly also told Israeli police commissioner Kobi Shabtai to use “an iron fist” against attempts to celebrate prisoner releases or support terrorism.

Al Jazeera senior political analyst Marwan Bishara said: “They won’t let the Palestinians mourn or celebrate. If mourning or celebrating isn’t allowed, what is allowed? If you cannot resist peacefully, how else can people bring about freedom for their loved ones?”

Reporting from Nablus, Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi said that the families of Palestinian prisoners were tense amid news that no West Bank prisoners would be released as part of the deal.

“This is an intrinsic issue for every Palestinian. They have either spent time in an Israeli prison or know someone who has. For Palestinians, this has been a very tense time. We have been speaking to families of people who have been named on the list, but they say they still have not been told anything and have no confirmation,” he said.

“Not knowing is something that has been completely consuming them. There was excitement when we met with them earlier yesterday [Thursday],” he said, but noted that many remain sceptical and believe their family members or others could always be rearrested, as has been the case in the past.

More than 14,500 people have been killed in Israel’s attacks on Gaza since October 7, including nearly 6,000 children. In Israel, the official death toll from Hamas’s assault stands at about 1,200.

“I didn’t win the lottery,” said Guy Metzger, after hearing that his mother was not among the first group of Israelis set to be released.

His parents Tamar Metzger, 78, and Yoram Metzger, 80, were taken captive. Metzger told The Wall Street Journal newspaper that he hoped his mother, Tamar, could still be among the women and children set to be released in the coming days. The deal does not include any adult men.

Gideon Levy, a columnist with Israeli newspaper Haaretz, said the release of some hostages will spark both celebration and mourning in Israel, with many others still being held.

“Right now Israelis are supporting the continuation of the war, but there will be a moment in which Israel will have to ask herself – until when and what will come after and at what price are we going to continue? All those are open questions now and the coming days will show if we are going for another escalation after the truce,” he said.

Basravi reported that “people say they are grateful about the ceasefire but they feel it will be an incomplete happiness if their loved ones are not released”, adding that many fear a truce in Gaza would mean an uptick in the already intensifying raids in the occupied West Bank.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

Sanchez, whose new government was sworn in earlier this month, proposed an international peace conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during talks with Netanyahu on Thursday.

The Socialist leader also met Israeli President Isaac Herzog and was set for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank later on Thursday before travelling on to Egypt.

“Today, more than ever, we need to bring back a serious and credible prospect for peace,” Sanchez said after talks with Netanyahu. “Without a political settlement, we are bound to run again into a never-ending cycle of violence.”

While Sanchez stressed that he backed Israel’s right to defend itself following the “atrocities” carried out by Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs Gaza, on October 7, he said the number of Palestinians killed in Israel’s military response “is truly unbearable”.

Around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed when Hamas fighters from Gaza attacked southern Israel, according to Israeli authorities, and around 240 others were taken as captives to Gaza.

Since the attack, Israel has bombarded Gaza in an air and ground assault and severely restricted supplies of water, food and fuel to the 2.3 million residents of the territory. More than 14,500 people, including more than 6,000 children, have been killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza, according to Palestinian authorities.

The last US-brokered round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014 and the prospects of a revival appear to have dimmed amid the continuing Israel-Hamas war.

Sanchez said he and unspecified colleagues had proposed holding an international peace conference with the parties as soon as possible. He said the European Union, Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation had all endorsed the idea.

“It is in Israel’s interest to work for peace, and today, peace means the establishment of a viable Palestinian state that includes the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, according to the UN resolutions,” he said.

United States officials have said the time is not right to try to resume peace talks given the protracted intransigence of both sides.

Sanchez attended the meetings alongside his Belgian counterpart, Alexander De Croo. Their two countries hold the current and upcoming rotating presidencies of the Council of the European Union, respectively.

Last week, Sanchez said a Union for the Mediterranean summit in Barcelona on November 27-28 would be an “ideal place” to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian dialogue as the two sides would “sit on an equal footing” there.

Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs limited parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, are members of the Mediterranean grouping along with neighbours Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Syria.

UK’s Cameron meets Netanyahu

In 1991, Madrid hosted a multilateral peace conference aimed at resolving the conflict through negotiations based on a “land for peace” formula, eventually leading to the 1993 Oslo interim accords that set up the PA.

But a series of follow-up negotiations aimed at creating a Palestinian state in territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war foundered on intractable differences over borders, Palestinian refugees, Israel’s steady expansion of settlements on occupied land, and the status of Jerusalem.

As he was sworn in for a new term this month, Sanchez said his foreign policy priority would be to “work in Europe and in Spain to recognise the Palestinian state”.

Several smaller European nations such as Sweden and Malta have recognised Palestine, but so far no major EU member has taken this step.

Sanchez governs in a minority coalition with hard-left formation Sumar. In October, Israel’s embassy to Spain accused some of Sanchez’s ministers of aligning themselves with Hamas after a hard-left cabinet minister called Israel’s military offensive in Gaza “a genocide”.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron also met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Thursday after visiting the south of the country. He said the agreed four-day truce was an opportunity to get some of the Israeli captives out of Gaza and that he hoped “everyone who is responsible and behind this agreement can make it happen”.

“There’s no hope for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, between Israel and the Arab states, if we don’t eradicate this murderous movement that threatens the future of all of us,” Cameron said, referring to Hamas.

The trial of “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius gripped the world in 2014 when he was convicted of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. 

Pistorius has now served half his sentence and on Friday he faces a second chance at parole after he was ruled ineligible for early release from prison in March.

Who is Oscar Pistorius?

Oscar Pistorius is a former Olympic and Paralympic athlete and a convicted murderer.

He was born in South Africa in 1986. At 11 months old, both his legs were amputated below the knee because of a congenital defect.

He ran on prosthetic blades – hence the nickname Blade Runner.

Until 2013, he was mostly known for his sporting prowess, winning gold at the Paralympics and making history as the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics.

Then, on the morning of 14 February 2013, Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend at his home in Pretoria, South Africa.

The murder of Reeva Steenkamp

Ms Steenkamp, 29, was shot dead by Pistorius while she was in the toilet.

Pistorius has always insisted the shooting was a mistake, saying he thought an intruder was in the house and he feared for his safety.

He fired four shots through a locked toilet door, hitting Ms Steenkamp in the head, hip and arm.

Pistorius claimed in court it was only when he battered down the door with a cricket bat that he realised who was behind it.

The prosecution argued the murder was premeditated and Pistorius shot Ms Steenkamp after an argument.

Part of their argument rested on saying Pistorius was wearing his prosthetic legs at the time of the shooting – they said the time taken to put them on was evidence of premeditation.

Pistorius testified he was on his stumps, a claim that was backed up by a ballistic expert’s analysis.

Changing charges and sentences

Pistorius was initially not found guilty of murder and was instead convicted of culpable homicide (the equivalent of a manslaughter charge in the UK).

He was sentenced to five years in 2014, and was eventually released from prison and placed under house arrest.

A year later, that conviction was overturned when South Africa’s supreme court of appeal found him guilty of murder.

He was sentenced to six years – which was then increased to 13 years and five months after the sentence was deemed “shockingly too lenient” in an appeal.

Parole hearings

Pistorius faces the prospect of getting out of prison early after serving half his jail sentence of 13 years and five months.

In South Africa, prisoners become eligible for parole after serving half their sentence.

The parole board will consider his case again on Friday after denying him parole in March.

The decision to give him a second parole hearing came after his lawyer took his case to the Constitutional Court over errors made by the court in calculating when Pistorius would be eligible for parole.

He was initially told he would only be eligible in August 2024, when he was in fact eligible in March.

Granting a second hearing was seen as effectively an admission of the appeal court’s error.

Read more:
Pistorius ‘not remorseful or rehabilitated’, Reeva Steenkamp’s mother says
Oscar Pistorius injured in prison fight over phone

Pistorius is not guaranteed to be granted early release.

The parole board takes a number of factors into account, including his conduct and disciplinary record in prison, his mental health and the likelihood of him committing another crime.

He could be released on full parole or placed on day parole, where he would be allowed to live and work in the community but have to return to prison at night.

Last year he met with Ms Steenkamp’s father as part of a process called victim-offender dialogue, which gives crime victims the chance to meet with offenders before they become eligible for parole.

Speaking ahead of the first parole hearing, Ms Steenkamp’s mother said he was “not remorseful”.

What was most striking about the Qatari announcement was the lack of information about the Palestinians who are going to be released as part of this exchange.

The Qataris didn’t have much to say about their Arab brothers and sisters who will be released. All the focus was on Israeli hostages.

If all goes to plan 4pm local time (2pm UK time) tomorrow, 13 Israelis will be released by Hamas.

The group seized them on 7 October as it slaughtered 1,200 people and has held them hostage in Gaza since – against all the rules of war.

They will be women and children. We know that much.

Israel-Gaza latest: How truce tomorrow will work

The Qataris say the priority is getting families out, meaning mothers and children. Their relatives are being told this evening.

It will be an agonising wait for the phone to ring. It is impossible to imagine the mental torture they have been living through on a daily basis.

Their relatives have been taken by thugs who’ve burned down homes, murdered the elderly and very young, and raped festival-goers.

The exchange arrangement has been planned to operate day by day. That is a further layer of torment for the families.

Every morning another list of names, every day an anxious wait to see if the ceasefire remains in place.

Every report of a shelling or explosion is a cause for worry.

What is still unclear is how the exchange works. We know the time the Israelis will be released. But soon after that the Palestinians? That is unclear.

The Qataris could not say that, or exactly how many Palestinian prisoners the Israelis will release from their jails.

Will they need to wait for Israel to identify each hostage and make sure they’re fit and well?

A list of 300 Palestinians – candidates for the exchange – has been released by Israel. Most are teenage boys, just 10% women. Sky News has taken a close look at the names.

There is a huge controversy in Israel over the list. They are regarded as terrorists with blood on their hands.

Families of some of their victims have expressed their outrage in interviews and have reportedly been urged to desist by Israeli authorities.

Read more:
Mum’s ‘indescribable sadness’ as Hamas holds daughter
Director of al Shifa hospital arrested, Hamas says

Palestinians will see the released prisoners as heroes.

Some of them have attacked soldiers and police officers – instruments of Israel’s 57-year occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem – in the past.

Palestinians also regard attacks on Israeli settlers living in those areas in the same vein.

There are reports the IDF has visited the homes of Palestinians who may be released to warn against celebrations.

Previous homecomings have seen huge crowds, fireworks and guns being fired into the air.

Israeli authorities in the West Bank will be keen to avoid that at such a febrile time.

There are many moving parts to this truce – each one of them grounds for argument and disagreement.

But there are also powerful parties overseeing the process – the Egyptians, the Americans, the Qataris.

The hope is their involvement will overcome any difference and between them they can steer this truce for as long as possible, releasing as many hostages as they can.

At this critical juncture, Palestine’s leaders should come together to craft a clear strategy for reunifying the Palestinian people

As Israel continues its war on Gaza, which is causing loss of life and displacement at a scale that has led to it being labeled a “genocide” by various experts, the Palestinian liberation struggle is at a critical juncture.

Despite undoubtedly recognising the importance of the current moment, however, Palestinian political factions, including Hamas and Fatah among others, appear unable to come together and lay out a coherent and realistic vision for the future of Palestine. It’s imperative for them to set aside their differences, acknowledge their moral responsibilities to the nation, and come together to craft a clear strategy for reunifying the Palestinian people. Such a strategy must not only thwart Israel’s well-defined and openly discussed plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza and detach it from the Palestinian homeland, but also respond to Israeli efforts to displace Palestinians in the West Bank and Israel itself.

As a Palestinian from Gaza, I believe at this point in the conflict, opportunities are ripe for putting an end to the ongoing war in Gaza, uniting the Palestinian factions, and launching a new political path to end the occupation. There are 10 clear steps that could and should be taken, starting with Palestinian leaders, to achieve this and put our nation on a direct path towards justice, peace and statehood:

1. First and foremost, all Palestinian factions should commit to the fulfilment and eventual expansion of the Qatar-brokered agreement to exchange Israeli captives in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
2. Hamas should declare its acceptance of and commitment to the Fatah reconciliation agreement it signed in Cairo in 2017. It should call on the Palestinian Authority to assume its responsibilities in Gaza and also reassert the commitment of resistance factions in Gaza to all agreements signed by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). To counter Israel’s destructive post-war plans for Gaza, Palestinian leaders should establish an interim governing council for the Strip comprising technocrats from the region. All past Palestinian Authority personnel from Gaza, including the police, should be called upon to return to their duties. This plan should also include retaining civilian Hamas employees, including the police. The reintegration of Hamas fighters and weaponry into the Palestinian Authority forces after the end of the war should also remain under consideration.
3. Hamas should publicly acknowledge the Peace Accords signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the foundation for a peace process, and agree to the scheduling of elections for the entire Palestinian territory within one year. In return, Israel should be pressured to recognise a reformed Hamas as a mainstream Palestinian political faction and a party to future negotiations.
4. The PLO should be reactivated and reformed in a way that would ensure the representation of all Palestinian parties and components within its structures. Particular emphasis should be placed on empowering young Palestinians, both men and women, taking on consequential roles within the organisation and have a say in the future of Palestine. The reformed PLO should include not only Fatah, Hamas and other PLO factions, but also representatives from the Palestinian diaspora, as well as independent representatives from across the nation. Members of the organisation should be reelected every four years in free and fair elections, and it should be agreed that the organisation will have the final say in all critical issues concerning the Palestinian people until an independent Palestinian state is established.
5. The reconstruction of Gaza should start immediately under international and Arab supervision. While the international community should contribute to funding the project, the brunt of the financial burden should be put on Israel as the occupying power responsible for causing the destruction. The reconstruction effort should be used to put Gaza on the path to achieving sustainable economic growth. It should also aim to address the rapid depletion of the Strip’s environmental resources as a result of the occupation, including issues relating to water and electricity shortages, shrinking fishing areas, and destruction of agricultural land among others.
6. Israel should be made to set up a compensation fund for the families – both Israeli and Palestinian – victimised by its wars, aggressions and occupation. Western countries adopted the idea that Russia would be compelled to pay for its war in Ukraine, and Ukraine would be rebuilt using frozen Russian assets. The Palestinian leadership should insist that the same responsibility is imposed on Israel.
7. International observers should be deployed along Israel’s borders to prevent confrontations. Turkiye [Turkey], which is accepted as an honest broker by the Palestinians and has strong relations with the West and Israel as a NATO member, could be asked to take on this important responsibility.
8. The siege on Gaza should be lifted, fully and unconditionally, with its border crossings, airports and ports reopened and its residents given full freedom of movement. A permanent and secure passage between Gaza and the West Bank should also be established. Turkiye can also play a crucial role in opening Gaza up to the world, by establishing maritime and aerial bridges for reconstruction and development.
9. Israel should be pressured to immediately and unconditionally halt all its settlement activities and initiate comprehensive negotiations for bringing an end to its occupation under UN auspices, based on the 1967 borders, and within a pre-set timeframe of no more than three years. The Arab League should continue to push for its 2002 Arab Peace Initiative which called for all Arab states to recognise and normalise relations with Israel in exchange for the establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Any further attempts at normalisation should be frozen until this is achieved.
10. Finally, if this political track towards sustainable peace and dignified co-existence fails or faces a significant roadblock, a reformed PLO that is kept in check by the Palestinian people through regular elections should be accepted as the sole entity that could decide on the future direction and nature of the Palestinian struggle for liberation.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.