Quotes
If the ceasefire holds, it will provide the Israel Defense Forces with time to recuperate, allow the troops to rest, replenish its arms and munitions,
Etzion said
Right now, it is very hard
Sa’ar saidWe had hoped that this agreement would be comprehensive and include the Gaza Strip, or at least a deal would be reached on a ceasefire and end the ongoing suffering here,
said Nasser, 40, who has been displaced from his home in northern GazaWe are deeply disappointed that [the Lebanon ceasefire] doesn’t include a hostage release deal — this was a missed opportunity,
said hostage advocacy group Hostages and Missing Families Forum in a private message to the families of hostages that was obtained by NBC NewsHis whole strategy is political and personal,
he told NBC NewsThere are great concerns here in the Gaza Strip that the ceasefire in Lebanon will become a reason for expanding military operations here in the Gaza Strip,
he addedClearly Hezbollah has had a major setback and Hamas has been pretty much dismantled, ... The Iranians aren’t going to have nearly as much ability to resupply their proxies because they’re having to shore up their own domestic defense.”
he saidI'm skeptical that there will be a cease-fire deal in Gaza regardless of the coordination happening with the Trump transition team,
Michael Hanna, a Middle East expert at the International Crisis Group, told the Journal
Netanyahu’s coalition partners don’t want a deal, and Hamas doesn’t want a deal."
Steven Cook, a senior fellow for the Middle East at the Council on Foreign Relations, addedAre we at the beginning of the end? Definitely not. We still have a lot to do,
Dichter said, ... according to Reuters
We can and must conquer the Gaza Strip. We should not be afraid of that word,
Smotrich said at an event on Monday nightIt reminds us that peace is possible,
said Mr Biden, as the deal brought to an end the 14-month conflict, during which close to 4,000 people lost their lives and hundreds of thousands were displacedPeace is not the silence of cemeteries / Peace is not the silent result of violent repression”
As Óscar Romero, the martyred Salvadoran bishop, once wroteIf Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack."
Both Mr. Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed Tuesday that
It's not safe to go home,
Israeli Eliyahu Maman said as the truce silenced the rocket-fire
Just as the Lebanese people deserve a future of security and prosperity, so do the people of Gaza. They too deserve an end of the fighting and displacement,
Mr. Biden said Tuesday at the White House
For every violation, ... we will attack with might."
Netanyahu threatenedWe have learned from the past, ... and we have designed this deal to be long-standing and to stay in effect - to continue to sustain the peace and also to ensure the security of the State of Israel."
he saidI think it's in his political interest for the war to go on because the end of the war in Gaza could really threaten this coalition,
said Shelah
Gaza will never be a threat to the state of Israel again...We will reach a decisive victory there. Lebanon is different,
said Israel's Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, a member of the inner security cabinet and a former head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency